That Winter, The Wind Blows- FT version
by juljen
Summary: Multi-chapter melodramatic romance. Lucy Heartfilia lost her vision, her father & loses her mother and brother. Natsu is a high-stakes gambler, preying on rich women. He sees Lucy as an easy target and enters her life by pretending to be her brother. Can Natsu finish the game he started or will his feelings get in the way? eventual Nalu/other pairings. Rated T for violence/swearing
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey little rainbows! Julie here, along with Jenny! We decided on a collaboration fanfic! and I'm soo excited for this because this fic is a ft version of an AWESOME k-drama called _That Winter, The Wind Blows_ **Please check this out!** Now, without further adieu -because we can't contain these feels anymore- let us begin!

**Disclaimer: We do not own Fairy Tail or any of its beautiful characters. They all belong to the great and talented Hiro Mashima.** *fangirl squeal*** Also, we do not in any way own the amazing k-drama****_ That Winter The Wind Blows._**** It belongs to its respective director/writer.** We are simply hopelessly romantic fangirls who need to express their feels. So please enjoy. **Also the words in quote are the english subtitles from Viki. Please check that website out for some awesome cheezeee! if you don't like cheese you can watch the many movies, dramas, tv shows, and more.**

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_Summary_: A melodrama about a man and a blind woman who doesn't believe in love. Lucy Heartfilia lost her father and is estranged from her mother and older brother. She also lost her vision and is helpless and confused as to whom she may be able to trust or lean on. All the while she is forced to run a large corporation as the sole heiress. She later meets Natsu Dragneel, a high-stakes gambler and con artist who preys on rich women after tragically losing his first love. He sees an easy target in the young blind woman and enters Lucy's life by pretending to be her long-lost brother. Can Natsu finish the game he started, or will his feelings for Lucy get in the way?

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_Flashback:_

_A wide snow cover field lies vacant to what seems as any life forms except for one solitary tree. However, there are slight remnants of footprints left on the snow leading towards the withering old tree where a small basket lays. With the harsh winter winds whipping against the only objects that block its way, a closer look inside the basket reveals a baby that looks onto the cold sky, not uttering a cry or any sound, but looking on with a hopeless look as if already acknowledging the fact of its abandonment. The baby, holding in his eyes a look of emptiness, is Natsu Dragneel._

_The scene changes and Natsu turns to look indifferently out the window of a hotel while lying with a woman in bed._

Natsu lay in the king-sized bed, looking bored. He mutters, "What's weird about what I'm saying? Can't I just live half-heartedly like this?" He gently holds the two gold die between his index and thumb. _I won another gamble. I should feel satisfied, yet, I'm still missing something. I hate this feeling. It always torments me because I can never find something to fill this whole, _Natsu thinks, vacantly. "Does there need to be a reason for a person to live?" He says, while feeling the soft touch of Minerva's hands, yet they aren't in the least soothing or comforting to him. Another thought creeps through his mind, _Instead I continue to wallow inside as to what seems like a God-forsaken abyss of darkness._

Next to him, Minerva asks, "Then how can a person live without any meaning?" _Why is he asking such questions, _she thinks, sadly,_ Does he think I'm not enough for him or something?_

She hears Natsu snicker, "Heh, really? Ignoring his remark, Minerva continues, "What is your family like?" ___I'm trying to get his attention, yet I receive nothing but a hollow answer, _she thinks, depressed.

Slowly hesitating as the flashback comes to him, Natsu echoes, "Family?"

_Flashback:_

_The cries of a baby resonate throughout the cold winter field while a mother continues to run away from the child without even a moment's glance back towards her own flesh and blood. The mother continues to run while the vulnerable child's cry continues on like a broken record on an endless loop._

"Family... Family," Natsu repeats, then thinking, _Funny, how such a genuine word as 'family' only means abandonment and... emptiness... to me. Fate is really ironic._

* * *

_The scene changes leaving Natsu with an wry smirk on his face and reveals a young woman steadily jogging on the treadmill and looking blankly ahead as the announcer on an overhead TV continues to drone on._

_"This is reporter Chapati Lola.* Since the PL group's CEO Jude Heartfillia fell into a coma 300 days ago due to an aneurysm, it has been 300 days since the CEO has been able to lead his company. It has caused significant internal tension within the company. The former CEO is credited for many patents the company currently holds... And for the last 24 years, has devoted funds to medical research and grown to become the corporation it is today. His only daughter, Lucy Heartfillia, is the sole executor to his estates and there is no other family member. Lucy Hearfillia's fiance, Gray Fullbuster, has been carrying out the CEO's responsibilities. Will there be a need to pick a new leader of the company or wait longer for the CEO's recovery? The decision is right before us." The TV is then turned off with a click._

_The scene shifts from the television and is directed towards the blank looks on the faces of Gray, Jellal (Lucy's lawyer), and Erza (Lucy's secretary) who are inside Jude Heartifillia's extravagant bedroom which contrasts greatly to the feeble and deathly looking man lying on the grand centerpiece bed._

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After the tv was turned off, Gray Fullbuster, a tall, cold-looking man announces, "I can no longer act as a substitute CEO. I think while the CEO lives, Lucy's and my wedding..." Gray trails off as Lucy enters the room. Gray tries to show her a sympathetic look, but it is useless as she stares on with blind eyes.

A blonde, pretty, youthful woman walked with slight unsteadiness into her currently invalid father's room. Her eyes were simply dull brown orbs with no light shining in them. An annoyed thought ran through her head, _Again with the wedding talk..._ Lucy Heartfilia, a bit sweaty and tired from jogging intensely, says with a bit of perspiration dripping from her forehead, "Usually, when an elder is unwell, isn't it disturbing to have a big event, Mr. Jellal Fernandez?" directing her statement towards her lawyer. She thought again bitterly, _Take the hint! Why is it always about the company and my stupid wedding! Can't they understand that I have practically no one except my father who is in a comatose state at this moment?_

Jellal, a blue-haired man with a red tattoo on his cheek, replies a bit unnerved, "Y-yes, of course, it isn't right. No matter how much of a hurry we are in." Erza Scarlet, Lucy's crimson-haired polished secretary, objects uncertainly, "But the doctor wants us to be prepared. What if something happens to the CEO? Lucy, you'll..." Irritated, Lucy interrupts rudely, "My father is still alive. Do not talk about him so carelessly." _How dare she start up such a topic again, _she thinks.

The blonde young lady slowly and cautiously touches nearby surfaces to find the seat next to her father. She finally feels the fine patterns of a chair and sits. She reaches forward, letting her hand touch the silky fabric of the blankets that covers her father's unmoving body. Finally, finding what she is looking for, she wraps her fingers around her father's cold, soft, motionless fingers.

The sound of his breathing both terrifies and relieves Lucy. She grips his hands tightly while praying an unheard prayer for his recovery. _Without him, I'm finally left vulnerable and alone in this dark and harsh world. I was always alone even before Father was like this. He was too busy for me, but then, I wasn't completely alone as compared to now. Father, please get well, _Lucy prays, ignoring the entire outside world, and shutting herself in.

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_The scene changes from Jude Heartfillia's bedroom to a refined room where we find a few bodyguards patiently waiting and a couple gentlemen sitting around a poker table. Natsu stands out obviously with his dashing blue suit which contradicts his hair color. A waitress arrives to refill a glass of wine. A card is dealt to Natsu. He tips the corner slightly to glimpse the fate behind it and glances toward his wingman, Gajeel, who returns a smirk and a slight nod._

_If the guys around the table aren't daunted by my fabulous pink hair, I must say, their poker face is impressive,_ Natsu thinks, arrogantly. Next to him, Gajeel Redfox, the scary, well-built man with a long mane of black hair, reaffirms his thoughts and as soon as he shows his smirk, the guy to Natsu's left says, "All in." Soon after, the other guy answers with a "Call". Oh, what sweet sound to Natsu's ears. Natsu quickly responds with, "Call", and slides in all his chips. He can see the shock quickly appearing in the once poker-faced players. The second caller replies with "Ace, two pair." Natsu hear a slight gasp from the first caller, yet not a noise made, for fear. But a scoff is heard and he boldly says, "King. Full. House."

He then greedily leers and reaches over to grab the chips. _Ha, ha. No can do, buddy, _Natsu grins mentally. "Wait," Natsu says, with a proud look. He flips his cards and leans back to witness the look on the idiot's face as Natsu tells him, "Two poker." _The joy that one gets at seeing someone's defeated look is indescribable._ Natsu looks back to Gajeel who is grinning from ear to ear. Natsu gets up when he hear the defeated fool's angry voice yelling, "What the hell!" The furious man gets up, shouting indignantly, "You guys planned this right? Why are you only stepping on me? WHY ARE YOU ONLY STEPPING ON ME!?" Gajeel and I take our leave as the guy wears a look of pure chagrin.

Gajeel murmurs, "This isn't the time to smile." As the duo confidently walk out, a man discreetly passes over the loot they just won. Gajeel takes it while smiling like a Cheshire cat. "Gihi," he chuckles, under his breath. Suddenly, Natsu asks, "You think something's wrong? There seems to be a lot of them over there." From a distance, they both hear the frustrated scream of the fool yelling, "What are you doing! GO CATCH THOSE BASTARDS!" _The fun... is just about to begin._ The fool's stupid lackeys chase them, a grand chase occurring in the narrow hallway. Natsu sends Gajeel their secret signal and the fight begins. Chucking money into the faces of the lackeys, Natsu punches them as they stare stupidly in surprise. Some weak ones who already fell down feel a kick in their side from the wild pink-haired man if they try to get back up. '**Everyone wants to find a reason to live. So, in order to find that reason, some risk it all in a fleeting love. Others risk it on a moment of passion. Either way, it's all the same. All this will come to pass.'**

Natsu finishes off the guys on his side. The thrill and energy inside him acts as a blazing inferno, firing him up. He glances back at Gajeel, to find him in a pinch. He is pinned to a wall by an ugly, bald, human hippo while taking hits from the guy's chubby fists. Natsu holds back a curse as he runs and jump, landing an effective blow into the hippo's side. He mutters an exasperated grunt of pain. Natsu grabs Gajeel's arm and they run, but are stopped again as a couple latecomers run into the scene. The first lackey Natsu simply knocks aside, adding in a punch to the chest. Gajeel is repeatedly kneeing a crouching lackey painfully in the stomach. Natsu then turns to face the very, angry hippo, and to make things funnier, he licks his thumb and punches the hippo square in the face, making sure to leave a mark. '**In this world where people are all looking for a reason to live, I also try to look for a reason to live in this dirty and lousy place.'**

Finally, Natsu goes to calm down Gajeel, who is kicking the lackey repeatedly in the place where the sun does not shine on. He is aiming to hit him with the side of the briefcase filled with the money, but Natsu stops him before he gets carried away. The two rowdy men both run for their lives out the doors, wearing wide smiles. '**Then will something change in my life? I've lived my whole life thinking that I only have myself to depend on. Will there really be a moment of sudden enlightenment? ...Then shall we start now?'**

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Here we find ourselves being introduced to some broken people. Natsu had a lonely childhood and turned out to become a gambler and womanizer. Lucy who is vulnerable and weak inside, carries a cold and stern attitude. What would happen if these two were to meet? An empty person's equally empty heart can't be filled by an empty person, or vice versa, right? But will this story be able to bust that myth and show you a "miracle?" Stay tuned!

*You may not be totally familiar with the name 'Chapati Lola', so I will clear up any miscommunications! He is that weird announcer in the Grand Magic Games/Daimatou Enbu, LOL.

A/N: Please R & R! If you review, we will hug you and not punch your buns! Stay tuned for the juicy feels that are to come! -JulJen 3


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: HEY PARTY LLAMAS! Jenny's here! So is Julie! with the next chapter of this exciting melodramatic storyyyy!~ Hope you enjoy! By the way, since this is AU which means Alternate Universe, the characters will have to be a little OOC, so please forgive us. (OOC: Out of Character) But that is because we're basing this on a k-drama, and in k-dramas, there is no telling what will happen. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter!

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**Disclaimer: We do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters in any way. Hiro Mashima does. We also do not own the k-drama ****_That Winter, the Wind Blows._**** The drama producers do.**

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_The scene changes back to Natsu and Minerva in a luxurious room overlooking the cityscape. Minerva is now lounging on a sofa, looking forlornly at nothing in particular. Natsu approaches the window with a faraway look in his eyes._

Minerva says, hopelessly, "You will soon throw me away." Natsu turns his head indifferently to say, "If you believe it, I heard it comes true," and turn back to observe the city. _I have nothing more to lose, so what's the harm in trusting in something that could be another lie? Perhaps living that way would be more interesting. _A single tear -probably a fake one- flows down Minerva's cheek as she sits up, breathing shakily, "You are too cruel." Hearing this, Natsu couldn't help but smile widely. Grinning from ear to ear, he replies, "I agree with you. But you, the mistress of a gang boss, shouldn't be talking. Am I right?"

Agreeing with him, Minerva says, "I know I am, but still, you're being way too..." She breaks off her sentence, seeing no response from him. Natsu takes a sip from his wine and relishes in the sound of Minerva's quiet sobs.

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_The scene changes to a lavish bedroom embellished in red and gold, with soft fabrics and dim lighting. Erza puffs up the pillows and helps Lucy, dress in a simple white nightgown, into bed. Lucy closes her unseeing eyes._

"Lucy, sleep well," Erza says, trying to cheer up her mood. As Lucy remains silent, Erza straightens up, turns off the lights in her room, and exits.

_When Erza leaves, Lucy opens her eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling, seeing total nothingness._

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The next day, Natsu, Gajeel, and Laxus, dressed simply, walk down a modern bridge in the middle of Magnolia's most scenic parks. It is early morning, and the skies are gray, and the trees seem slightly bleak. Gajeel's cheeky laugh can be heard from across the entire span of the bridge.

Gajeel says, in mid-laughter, "Gihi, if you're the eldest son of the PL group's president, then I'm Steve Jobs' long lost son. Don't kid around with me, Laxus." Laxus, a blonde, buff, yet timid guy, looks at him with a shocked face. "Hey, I'm not sure about other people, but I definitely wouldn't lie to you two! My mom said that when I was eight and my sister was six, she got divorced from my dad-" Gajeel interrupts and continue Laxus's totally predictable sob story for him, "-Left your sister at your place and left the house with just you, but your mom passed away suddenly and that's why you're living like this, as a servant." As Gajeel speaks, Natsu looks on at them and Laxus sighs, saying "I'm being serious here, idiot!"

"Alright, sure, then go to your dad and ask him to give you money, moron!" Gajeel retorts, pissed off. Laxus looks positively enraged as Gajeel adds, "And don't live a desperate life like this."

Laxus breathes in deeply, calming himself down, "... When my mom was dying, she told me not to look for my dad just for money. I have to keep my word!" The two dolts ,in his opinion, next to him glance elsewhere, obviously humoring him. "Later, I will become a chef at an Italian restaurant... and confidently stand in front of my dad and sister without being embarrassed." At these last words of mine, I start to smile.

Gajeel scoffs spitefully, "Tch. Confident? Confident my ass." Laxus frowns and Gajeel notices a brown envelope in his pant pocket. He swiftly snatches it from Laxus and reads the addresses. "Ugh, Laxus, really? I TOLD you to change your name, didn't I? I told you I didn't like you having the same name as my bro, didn't I?!" Gajeel looks down at the letter and asks indignantly, "And why are you using my address?"

Laxus couldn't take any more of Gajeel's idiocy._ Alright, now you're pissing me off. _Trying to get ahold of his collar, Laxus blurts, "Since when did Natsu's house become yours?!" As they fight at each other pettily, Laxus says, "I did it because there is no one at my house to get the mail. What are you gonna do about it?"

As the little brawl ends, Natsu plucks the envelope from Gajeel and leans against the railing of the bridge, examining it. "Su?" Natsu asks, pointedly at Laxus.

Laxus glances up and realizes what Natsu was asking. He explains, "My original name is Su, but when my mom divorced and left my dad, she added 'Ra-ku-sa' to my original name, Su. 'Ra-ku-sa-su' is the pronunciation of my current name, Laxus! My old family probably still knows me as 'Su', so I just wrote my name as that. I figure I'll tell them that I changed my name sooner or later.*

Furthermore, my mom wanted me to be somebody who would protect my sister and the world. Normally, people aren't named 'Laxus', but don't you think it's cool? 'Ra-ku-sa' means _'to protect'_ in a well-known ancient language**! So my name is essentially, 'To Protect-su'." As Natsu glances down at the letter at the name 'Lucy', Laxus confirms, "Lucy is my sister. Does your name mean something, Natsu?"

Blinking, Natsu replies, "There isn't a deep meaning to my name. Just Nat-su. 'Nat' means _'tree' _in that same ancient language, but it's just a simple word. And I used to be called 'Su' as well, by kids in the orphanage."

In slight disbelief, Laxus repeats, "Tree-su?" Gajeel looks at the both of them, slightly amused, as he has heard this story from Natsu before. Laxus is also about inquire about the orphanage he just mentioned, but he starts speaking, so he stays quiet.

Natsu's face hardens as he elaborates, "I was abandoned under a tree. Also, there were lots of trees surrounding my orphanage. Thus my name, "Tree-su." Laxus nods hesitantly. "The head of the orphanage named me."

Laxus watches Natsu walk ahead of him and Gajeel. He asks Gajeel, with slight wonder in his eyes, "Is he serious? Was he really abandoned under a tree...?"

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_The scene changes to a room with wooden decor and many closets chock full with mens' clothes and shoes of every kind._

An annoyed-looking girl with petite features and her blue hair in a braid says, "I asked you a question! Who did you sleep with last night?" Natsu stands in front of a mirror, holding a blue shirt to his chest, completely ignoring Levy McGarden.

Crossing her arms, Levy remarks, "Ohh, so the silence is an affirmation?" Natsu glances furtively at her and puts away the shirt in the racks. She mutters, "My gosh, he really is a gigolo." A voice from a distance says, "Let's go eat, bro!" Before Natsu can run off, she firmly pushes him against the long mirror. _Natsu, I'm worried about you. Why do you always sleep with those rich snobby women when I love you! If you get into trouble, I will kick your ass. _She asks, "By chance, that girl, Minerva. Do you love her?"

Natsu grins and taps her nose, saying, "I only love you, Levy!" She releases him from her grasp and Natsu leaves the room, joining up with his buddies. Hearing the loud noises from Natsu and his pals, Levy scoffs, "Those beggars!"

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_The dining hall is a large square room with a glossy table in the center. Many exquisite, good-smelling dishes fill the table. Abstract paintings hang on the oaken walls, and a few modern sculptures frame the entire room. Unique plants are placed in specific areas of the room, and a unique, bubbly-looking chandelier lights up the center of the room. Gajeel walks from the kitchen into the dining room and sets a bowl of rice for himself on the table._

Now in the room by herself, Levy glances at a nearly finished painting of a tree with different patterns in the background on an easel. The table next to it is messy, crammed with different kinds of art utensils and acrylics and brushes. Rolling her eyes, the vexed bluenette walks into the dining room, asking Natsu, "You're not painting?"

"Go away. Tch, nagging first thing in the morning," Gajeel tells her.

Levy disregards Gajeel and places her hands on the table, leaning towards Natsu and says condescendingly, "You don't paint, and instead you associate with desperate girls. What **are** you doing with your life, seriously?" There is no response from Natsu. Then, she asks randomly, "Where's your wallet?"

"Why do you need his wallet?" Gajeel asks, getting slowly irritated by Levy's straightforwardness.

"It's by the bed," Natsu says, without a slight bit of hesitation.

Levy heads toward the room and Gajeel cannot believe Natsu's stupidity. "Why do you always give her money, you dunce?" Gajeel smacks his forehead, completely dumbfounded as to why Natsu would just give his money to a crazy girl like her!

This 'crazy girl' hears Gajeel slap his forehead clearly. Levy turns around to face him and retort, "It's for the potted plants." Then, she leaves.

Gajeel grunts in criticism, "She ALWAYS brings the cheap pots and takes way more. She may work at a flower shop, but she's such a thief."

Back in Natsu's bedroom, Levy rifles through Natsu's bag, and upon finding the wallet, she opens it to get out the cash she needs. She also overhears Gajeel's rude remarks about her, but part of his words were true to some extent... Levy waves this dissatisfying thought away and take a bit more money than she intended, her rebellious side slowly but surely emerging. She conceals it in her pant's back pocket, hiding the bulge underneath her oversized gray sweater.

Gajeel's voice travels to the bedroom, "And you keep interrupting me in mid-sentence... One of these days, I swear I will..." Suddenly, Levy notices something in Natsu's bed that is very disturbing and pisses her off to high hell.

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Before the disaster strikes, Gajeel is just continuing his thrilling story about how he dislocated someone's shoulder,"And then, I just kicked him in the-!"

_Chatter becomes silent as Levy walks in the dining room with... a purple lace panties on the edge of her pinky. Her face had no emotion but anyone could tell that she was infuriated. Everyone just stares at the dangling panties on her rigid finger, and glances nervously at Natsu, who continues his breakfast calmly._

The infuriated, tiny, but terrifying girl walks slowly to Natsu's side and shockingly _**drops**_ the purple panties in his soup, just as Natsu was scooping up some soup with his spoon. Gajeel just looks on in surprise and Laxus gasps, shocked, his eyes widening.

At this, Natsu raises his voice angrily, "So, why would you go rummaging through someone else's bed?"

Levy flat out ignores his tone and lifts the panty out of the soup. She also takes out the spoon, and makes it clatter noisily on the table by dropping it. _I'm not sure what made me do it, but the moment I saw those ridiculous purple panties in Natsu's bed, I knew he had done it again. He slept with another woman. He is such a shameless little..._ In pure fury, she picks up the small bowl of soup and pours it all over Natsu's pretty little pink hair.

It seems as if time has frozen. Right as the liquid hits Natsu's head with a loud 'slap', he closes his eyes, feeling the warm fluid drenching his hair and dripping down his forehead onto his face._ I am about to explode in flames, _he thinks, just barely controlling his urge to flip the table.

Unsure of what to do, Gajeel and Laxus just look at the ceiling and in other places. Gajeel mutters, "She's crazy, seriously."

Levy's eyes were brimming with tears and dangerously close to overflowing, so she sets the bowl down and left grumpily. Natsu stands up with some watercress on his head and his eye twitching. He heads for the restroom, leaving the ones who just witnessed it a bit dismayed.

**Laxus and Gajeel simply sigh, for a such a spectacle in their house was not really that surprising. These kinds of things just happen when broken people get together and try to fit the puzzle pieces in their life once again.**

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A/N: Please note that in this fanfic, Natsu is kind of a jerk and sleeps with other women. Gajeel is pretty much the same, and Laxus is incredibly soft and not so mean like he is in Fairy Tail. Also, Minerva is fake and deceiving, which is not that different from her character. Levy is sassy and aggressive. Gajeel, Laxus, and Natsu are all close and brother-like toward each other, Lucy dislikes her secretary, Erza, (to find out why, just stay tuned, please!) so yeah! c: tons of drama bombs, so if you enjoy drama bombs, then you found the right fic, buddy.

Clearing up some stuff that may be confusing here:

*So what Laxus is claiming to all you beautiful readers is that when he was young, his mother divorced his rich father of the successful, money-making PL group (a fictional company, obviously). When they separated, his younger sister stayed with their father, who is now in a coma as you read in the last chapter, and he went with his mother, who is now passed away. When Laxus's mom was not divorced, and they were still a happy family, Laxus's name was **not** Laxus at the time. His name was "Su." He was known as Su by everybody, but when their mother divorced their dad, they moved away from the family to live on their own. That was when his mom changed Su's name by adding "Ra-ku-sa" to the name he already had, "Su." And that is how Su got a new name, Ra-ku-sa-su, which is the pronunciation of Laxus. But Laxus's other family does not know that he changed his name. They still know him as the "Su" he used to be, and in order to not confuse them, Laxus writes his previous name, "Su" on the letter that he will soon mail to his long-lost sister, Lucy. (Spoiler, I guess? HEHE.)

**this well-known ancient language is not really any language we know. We just made it up. bwahaha. :D

Once again, as this is AU, character personalities will be different. It's all for the 'fairy tale' ending, don't worry. ;D Please R&R! We love you guys!

_-Julie and Jenny_


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hi, there unicorn cupcakes!~ It's Julie and Jenny, here with yet another chapter for you to feast your eyes on and express your uncontainable feels with us. Hope you enjoy it and we'll work hard for your sake. c:

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_Where we left off on the previous chapter, Levy had just poured cold soup on Natsu's head in a fit of rage. Natsu leaves calmly, yet angrily to wash off his head in the bathroom. Laxus and Gajeel are left in the dining room with not much to say..._

_"_... Hey, Gajeel," Laxus says, timidly, "By the way, did Natsu really kill Levy's sister?"

Surprised from Laxus's sudden question, Gajeel stammered slightly,"W-what do you mean 'kill'?! They were just dating... and when he ended it, she got mad, got on that motorcycle, and all of a sudden, SCRREEEEECCH! Then she got-"

From a distance, Natsu hears Gajeel's loud voice retelling the melancholy incident. He goes back into the dining room and yells, "Hey!" The two both become like silent rabbits and stare at the irritated pink-haired man apprehensively. Sighing, Natsu says, "There are no towels here. Bring some."

Nervously, Laxus replies, "O-oh, okay, Natsu." Natsu then turns around and leaves huffily, while Gajeel bites a muffin, looking at Natsu's back anxiously.

* * *

_The scene changes to a snow-covered, wintry mansion in the mountains, and the sound of a rumbling motorcycle making its way up to the estate can be heard. The motorcycle is bright red and takes quite a bit of time to get up to the large home. Meanwhile, out in the field of the property, Erza and the head gardener are walking along the snow beside the scant trees. Erza is in a sophisticated outfit consisting of a magenta ruffled blouse tucked into a long, white skirt, paired with leggings. Over this, she wears a long beige, wool coat to protect her from the winter wind. The head gardener and his workers are dressed in black, puffy jackets and pants with matching gloves._

"Be more diligent in winterizing the plants this year, Gardener," Erza says, while crossing her arms, "We lost quite a few trees last winter." The head gardener replies curtly, "Yes, madame." Nodding, satisfied, the tall, scarlet-haired lady hears a 'vrrrooom-vrrrooooom' of a motorcycle and she looks towards the source of the sound. She asks the gardener, "Is the maid at home?" The gardener ponders for a while, and says, "I'm not sure. She should be... She may be outside cleaning up. But Ms. Lucy is inside, though."

As he keeps talking, Erza get nervous and more nervous. Ignoring his idle chatter and hastily running toward the house, Erza worries, _Oh, no. I never thought the day would come._ _I cannot let Lucy find his letter._ The house is quite far away from the garden, however, and Erza is unsure if she will make it on time.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the house, Lucy twirls some strands of her blonde hair in between her slender finger while sitting on a soft, comfortable chair, not really doing anything in particular. She hears the doorbell ring and carefully stands up, feeling her way towards the front door. She opens it and steps outside, feeling the cold air brush against her exposed, pink cheeks. The young woman is dressed in a smooth, cotton dress with a fluffy coat resting warmly on top of her shoulders. A man's voice says, "Oh, Ms. Heartfilia is picking up the mail personally? Is Secretary Erza not around?" Smiling, Lucy says, "She is in the front garden, right now." The man, whom she identifies as their familiar mailman, says, "Yes, please sign right here." He gently hands her a pen and urges her to sign an electronic check signing machine. As she signs it, Lucy asks, "What kind of mail do you have for me?"

When she finish her signature, he takes the electronic back and says, "One second, let me see... Some bills and... Su? A young man by the name of Su has been hand-writing these diligent letters to you every couple of months since last fall." At the sound of Su's name, Lucy's cheerful smile droops and she swallow, slowly. The man continues, "You've not seen them? They were always sent via registered mail. That's why I gave them to Secretary Erza personally." Realizing what Erza had been doing all this time, she quickly recovers from her dazed state and says, "A-ah, those? ...Yes, I've seen them. Sorry, but can you hand me the letters?"

The man replies, "Oh, yes," and obligingly hands the bundle of letters to Lucy. She says politely, "Drive safely," and he replies, "Yes, take care, Miss." The blind, light-haired woman hears his footsteps grow fainter and fainter until the revving of the motorcycle disturbs the silence, and eventually that loud noise fades away as well. Gripping the letters in her hands so tightly that her knuckles become numb, Lucy urgently goes back into the large house. Hurriedly, she feels for the stair's railings and walks up the stairs to her room.

* * *

Just as Erza gets to the front of the house, she sees the man riding the bright red motorcycle away, and her fears are confirmed. "Excuse me, mister! Excuse me!" Erza yells, but her voice was strained in vain as he gets farther away, not hearing her shouts. Now distressed, Erza enters the gigantic, ornate house, looking around for Lucy, but she is not around. _She must have gone upstairs, _Erza thinks, as she takes off her large coat and places it on a nearby chair, calling the maid's name.

_Seeing as the maid isn't here,_ Erza thinks, worried, _Lucy must have gotten the mail. _About to go upstairs and confront Lucy, Erza notices the CEO's decides to check on Jude Heartfilia, first. In his room are multifarious hospital machines by his bed, which allow him to live in his comatose state. She briefly looks around the room for anything unusual, and leaves as briskly as she walked in. As she leaves, she fails to notice that the CEO's heart monitor has started beeping alarmingly and loudly.

* * *

Upon entering Lucy's room cautiously, the secretary sees that Lucy is applying her light pink lipstick carefully, as not to get it on her teeth. She is sitting in front of a vanity, with a large mirror in front of her, but as she is blind, her blank eyes stare at nothing. Erza clears her voice, to let her know of her presence and sits gingerly on a chair next to her. "Are you going anywhere?" Erza asks. Lucy answers swiftly, "Where else can a blind person like me go?" After an uncomfortable silence, she continues, "I'm going to the plaza center."

With an acquiescent nod, Erza inquires, "Should I call our driver?" Now applying a bit of face lotion, Lucy replies tersely, "Since my dad's been sick, I haven't taken the car out to the plaza center. So, I've called for a taxi already." Secretary Erza's eyes bore into her back, and Lucy feels it, although she can't see it. Then, Erza objects, "But you riding a taxi is a bit-" She is worried about Lucy's safety, but the stubborn blonde interrupts, "I have to live my life alone, anyways. If Dad might possibly not be around anymore, I should learn to be more independent, right?" Resigned, Erza says, "I guess you don't consider me as someone you can trust anymore?"

Lucy replies, "Mom and Dad divorced because of you, Secretary Erza, and I became separated from her and my only brother. You didn't become trustworthy just become some time has passed. Instead you always had Dad's trust. He trusted you more than me." After a bit of silence, she decides to try to trip Erza up. "Oh, right. After my mom passed away 14 years ago, have you really not heard any news from my brother? Not even... a letter from Su?"

Erza pauses, looking for the right words to tell her. "Your dad said not to look for Su."

"That was when my mom was still alive... I blame my dad. It's not like he could stay with me forever. But he wouldn't help look for my brother, making me a lonely person all this time," Lucy counters. Taking a hold of her handbag, Lucy stands up and asks, "But why did you come to my room, Secretary Erza?"

"That is.. because I thought you received the mail," Erza says as she stands up with Lucy, revealing her true intentions as to why she came into Lucy's room. Lucy blatantly lies to her, "The mail? ...I didn't receive it today."

In a concerned tone, Erza says, "I thought I saw the mailman come by today..." Then, I look down at Lucy's purse and see the bundle of mail that was delivered today in her bag, sticking out in plain sight. I raise my eyebrows, thinking, _Does she not know that I can see the mail right in her bag?_ Erza looks up at Lucy, who stares straight at the wall, her face pale. She notices that Lucy gulps and that she clenches her bag even tighter. A voice downstairs says, "Miss Lucy, the taxi has arrived."

Nervous to get out of the house, Lucy says briskly, "I'll be going then."

Saying nothing about the mail, Erza watches Lucy walk out of the room. After a moment in the room by herself passes, Erza walks to the window and opens it to observe the taxi with Lucy inside driving up the road, soon going out of sight. Erza becomes worried for her, but there is nothing she can do about it, and she knows that fact. _Lucy is very independent, stubborn, and strong-willed... I have a bad feeling about what was in our mail today, _Erza thinks as she backs away from the window. Reaching into her skirt pocket, Erza pulls out her phone and dials the number for the Magnolia post office.

* * *

In the faux leather seats of the taxi, Lucy cautiously takes out the bundle of mail and hands it to the taxi driver. "Could you look for the hand-written letter and take me to that address, sir?" He takes the letters from her and she hears him rustling them around. When it stops, he says, "Ah, this one?" There is a pause and he continues, "Yes, alright, ma'am." He hands her back the letters and Lucy sits back in the taxi, anticipating.

* * *

Erza walks down the stairs into the living room area while on the phone with the Magnolia post office. "Yes, is it possible to check is we got a handwritten letter at our house today?" A man at the other line replies, "Yes, just a minute." She lightly pulls her red hair, agitatedly, waiting for his reply. She hears him say, "Ah, there was one register mail that was hand-written." In shock, Erza stutters in reply, "T-thank y-you, sir," and hangs up. Her eyes widen and gloss over with tears._ I never wanted Lucy to find out._ Erza shuts her eyes, wishing this never happened.

Suddenly, a beeping alarm went off. Startled, she looks at the source of the sound, which was the red alarm above Jude Heartfilia's door which led to his room. _That alarm only goes off in real emergencies. _In disbelief and horror, she hurries to the door and falters at the front of his room. Then, the security machine on the wall beeps and she answers it quickly. "Secretary Erza! The alarm from the CEO's room-" Erza interrupt him, saying firmly, "It got turned on by mistake. Nothing is wrong. Go back to your work..." Disconnecting the call, she turns to stare once more at the room in front of her, the alarm still beeping and resounding in her ears. Everything seems like it is going in slow-motion to the shocked woman. She dreads to see what had happened behind those doors.

* * *

_The scene is then directed to the same bedroom we saw before, with Minerva around the room and Natsu, who is laying in bed, still sleeping. Minerva is wearing a white sweater tucked into a mini black-and-white pencil skirt, with tights and knee-high boots. Her long caramel overcoat corresponded with her floral scarf, making her appear as a very fashionable, down-to-earth person, but she was a nervous wreck in actuality._

Minerva pulls her clothes haphazardly from Natsu's closet and stuffs them messily into her snow-colored handbag. Fingers shaking, she takes out a manila folder. She then punches in the pin for Natsu's safe in the wall and opens it, putting the cream-colored folder inside, on top of his files. Slowly, she closes the safe and looks around tensely, as if someone was watching. After, in vacillation, she approaches Natsu, who still lies asleep on his bed. Sitting down on the bed next to him, she smiles as his body lifts up and down as he breathes. Delicately, Minerva brings her hand up to his cheek, tempted to stroke his handsome face, but stops herself before she gets carried away. She pulls away her hand, balling it weakly into a fist. Gulping, she notices her own ragged breathing echoing in the room. Her attention is pulled to the left, and her eyes are set upon a small oval frame of Natsu in his best suit on the bedside table._ I want a memory of him. _Her eyes start to tear up as she takes the picture frame with her and leaves his apartment.

* * *

_Meanwhile, Lucy's cab arrives at the plaza center, a place consisting of a high-rise apartment building in which Natsu lives in. _

Lucy opens the cab door and clumsily lengthens her cane. Standing up, she gets out of the cab and hears the driver's voice, "Miss, turn around and walk straight. The building entrance is a little off to the right. You remember the unit number?" Lucy nods, "Yes." Then she hears the taxi driving away, and soon nothing can be heard. The woman exhales, trying to calm herself down. She cannot see anything at all. It is pitch black, except for a faint light beyond which moves around and can't be pinpointed. Honestly, Lucy is scared to her wits. She gathers up her senses and courage, and her hands tremble as she swings my white cane back and forth before her feet to ensure that she does not trip.

Lucy enters the fancy high-rise apartment building, using her cane to guide herself, unaware of passerby noticing her disability. At the same time, Minerva walks down the spiral stairacase that lead up to Natsu's apartment, brushing her hair back with her fingers, and the two women pass by each other, not acknowledging each other's presence. Lucy abruptly stops walking. Suddenly, there are many people walking to and fro around her and she is distressed, and at a loss of where to go, where to stand. Someone pushes her slightly as they walk by, and Lucy jumps a little. She is lost and afraid, unsureness nagging in her mind. She has always felt isolated all her life, but now she has felt even more alone and fearful of what will happen next.

* * *

AN: WHEE! What will happen to Lucy!? What the heck is Minerva up to!? Dat evil witch. I'll punch her bunz. Did Natsu really kill someone!? Why did Erza hide Laxus's letters from Lucy!? Stay tuned and all will be revealed. *exits mysteriously but awkwardly trips on the way out* Well, fail. Please R&R! Love you guys! - Julie & Jenny** P.S.** _**Last update til' next week. We managed to finish this one right now, so we figured, why not just upload it instead of making you guys wait? We ask you to R&R until we are finished with finals & school! 3**_


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello, little marshmallows! Julie and Jenny here to rouse up your feels again with another chapter of That Winter the Wind Blows-F.T. version :) Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to review, fav, and follow because they make us so happy, just like when you get the 'Excellent!' or 'Good Job!' stickers in elementary school and you're like "Whaddup, I got me some 'Good Job' stickers! What what!"

* * *

Thankfully, a staff member witnesses the difficulty and discomfort Lucy is facing as she is unable to move and stands still amongst the bustling workers and tenants. He goes over to Lucy and gently guides her to the room of her supposed brother. They finally reach their destination, and he directs her saying, "The door is to the left of where you are." Lucy calmly replies with a simple, "Okay," as she is still a bit frazzled from the fear, feeling of vulnerability in the midst of an unsettling surrounding, and also from the slow anxiousness in her heart to find her long lost brother.

Her uneasy thoughts are cut short as the staff manager asks, "Um, excuse me, Miss, but you are the sister of the man in this room, correct?" Lucy blankly turns to the voice that calls her out. She is grateful to the man for leading her, however, his presence is no longer needed, and she assumes that he doesn't trust her. _Of course, never trust a blind woman as the saying goes... Or whatever. I can tell that my motives are confusing to others since nobody understands the loneliness I've dealt with throughout my life. Heh, guess nobody can trust me, just like I can't seem to trust any one either. Maybe that can change if I find my brother, but what if he will betray me too? Only the cruel judge, Fate, will decide._

Lucy asks with a monotonous, yet firmer voice, "Do you want to meet him before you go?" She turns to her left as instructed and reaches out to touch the smooth wooden door. She glides her fingers along the surface and moves it to the door frame in search of the doorbell. As her fingers descend, the sensitive tips touch the cool surface of the silver doorbell. She puts slight pressure on the bell to ring it, and the staff member who is awkwardly standing there, understands the message. Acknowledging that his presence was no longer needed, the staff member replies, "No, it's alright." He gives a slight bow out of respect and leaves.

Lucy stands there silently while the man's footsteps grow fainter and the resonance of the doorbell chime grows louder. However, there is no answer, and Lucy tries again, ringing the bell a second time. Inside the room, Natsu lies in his bed and slightly shifts as the chimes echoes within his empty room. His response is to simply lie deeper into the bed covers. The chime echoes a third time. Natsu, now only half-asleep, grabs his pillow and smothers his face to block the annoying sounds of the bell chime. Lucy still stands outside, reaches again for the doorbell, and rings it again for the fourth time. Natsu, who is now slightly pissed, throws off the bed covers and pillows, and slowly makes his way to the door to end the sound of the doorbell.

He wobbles slightly as he is nursing a slight hangover from last night's drinking with Minerva. Natsu stops for a second to touch his head which begins to slightly throb, indicating a headache that was soon to make its appearance. The bell rings for the fifth time now, and Natsu gives an exasperated sigh. He finally reaches the security answering machine and asks with a slightly rough voice, "Who is it?" He keeps his head down, not looking at the screen which shows the camera image of Lucy standing before his door. Lucy is frozen by the husky voice that answered. She is shocked by his tone and her brain seems to be not functional as her linguistic abilities are cut short, so she simply stands there. Natsu is slightly ticked by the silent answer, so he asks again with a firmer tone, "Who is it?"

Lucy opens her mouth slightly to answer, yet her speech abilities are still slurred and nothing comes out. Natsu is now fully pissed and looks up to glare at the screen, but is surprised in seeing a young blonde woman standing there. _I've never seen her before... At least I don't think so? I only slept with Minerva last night, right? _"Who are you?" Natsu asks again, but with a softer tone upon seeing the woman. Sensing a slight annoyance in his tone, Lucy hesitantly answers, "L-Lucy." Natsu puzzled by the name tries to think of anyone he knows by that name. "Lucy?" he says to himself. _That names seems familiar in a nagging way. Did I ever sleep with a girl named Lucy? No, I don't think so._

"Why are you here?" he replies gruffly. Lucy, slightly confused and feeling even more worried that perhaps she had gotten the wrong room, asks timidly, "This isn't my brother Su's home?" Natsu takes a deep sigh, annoyed by the constant short answers and neglects questioning as to why she said 'brother'. He curtly says, "I am Su." _Funny, only my closest friends call me by my nickname, Su. Who is this woman, and how does she know such a personal thing?_

Taking a silent gulp, Lucy calmly replies, "I received your letter. The one you sent me." Natsu confusedly tries to remember anything related with 'letter' in his cloudy mind. "Letter?" he mutters to himself. Then, it strikes him an he remembers. "Oh...that 'Su.' Um, well, La- I mean, Su, isn't home right now. He will be back by around three. Please come back then." _I feel like I shouldn't use Laxus's current name... At least not to this weird lady._

He then nonchalantly turns off the answering machine and makes his way back to his room. Lucy stands there in disappointment and silence. Feelings of fear of going back alone into the throng of people where she feels most vulnerable fills her. She quickly reaches for the doorbell and rings it again, now desperate for a lead to her long-lost brother. Natsu becomes pissed off upon hearing the ringing of the doorbell again. He storms out of his bedroom and to the answering machine, hitting the button a little more forcefully than before. He says stonily, "Listen here, Miss, 'Su' is not here at this moment."

Lucy regains her confidence and quickly replies, "Didn't you just say you were Su? Now you're saying 'Su is not home right now'... I don't understand, please explain." Realizing how it might have been confusing, Natsu tries to maintain his patience a little and clear up the misunderstanding, "Ah, that is... Your brother and I have the same name. But your brother is not here, and I am extremely tired." His patience runs thin and soon the volume of his voice rises. "Therefore, please don't ring the door bell again!" He literally then slams the button on the answering machine to end the conversation.

Natsu walks away and rubs his temples; his headache seems to have intensified from the vexing chat with the strange lady. Lucy, unfazed by the loudness of Natsu's tone, quickly reaches again for the doorbell, ringing it for the seventh and final time. However, Natsu had thought ahead and muted the volume off for the bell before he departed into his bedroom for an extra hour of sleep. Inside the room, he goes back under the covers of his bed and lets out a tired groan. Lucy, realizing that she can no longer call out for the person, suddenly has a look of distress as she still had unanswered questions. She is at a loss, and has no idea how to progress from where she is. She slowly turns to leave, reaching for her cane despondently. Extending her free hand to the opposite wall to aid in guiding her path, the blonde woman hesitantly leaves the hallway.

* * *

_The scene ends. Natsu, now fully dressed in a red-maroon suit, descends down the spiral staircase, not in any real haste but not in complete leisure either._

The same hotel staff member from before rushes over and calls out to Natsu, "President!" Natsu halts suddenly and points to himself, asking, "Me?" The staff member quickly answers, "Yes!" Natsu replies sternly, "I told you to call me Mr. 36th Floor. As you know, there are so many presidents living here, so I get confused as to who you're talking to." The staff member clumsily replies, "Oh, okay. But... Uh, you see..."

_The scene then fully reveals Lucy blankly looking out the railing._

The staff member continues, "She's already been waiting for about three hours." Natsu gazes at her, questioning her sanity. _Well, isn't she interesting,_ Natsu thinks and glances down to his watch to check the time. The staff member says in a mocking tone, "She said she's waiting for her brother. Heh, why is a blind person..." But his tactless words are cut short as Natsu walks towards Lucy. He passes her slightly, intending to go on his way, but returns as his curiosity gets the best of him. Lucy's keen hearing picks up the oncoming footsteps and turns her head slightly. Natsu asks softly, "You've been waiting here for three hours? Not even sitting somewhere, just standing?" Lucy rotates to face Natsu directly, and asks, "Who are you?"

Puzzled by such a question, Natsu fully remembering Lucy from speaking with her a couple hours ago, looks at her quizzically. He says, "Me? We spoke at the door." _What's with this chick? Doesn't she remember? Oh, well, judging by her short, broken-up answers, maybe she's just slow or stupid._ Lucy now remembers his voice and replies, "Ah, yes." Lucy thinks, a bit offended_, He's now speaking a little more softly unlike before, but I can still feel a tone of annoyance lying under his facade._ Natsu, sensing that she might remember his rude attitude, tries to be polite and asks, "Would you like to stay in my apartment till your brother returns? Should I give you the keys?" Lucy replies monotonously, "No." Natsu, feeling awkward when his generous offer was rejected, replies, "Okay, then."

Natsu tries to brush it off quickly, as to not create an awkward atmosphere. He continues on his way a bit quicker then before. Lucy, sensing his leave, calls out, "Excuse me. Sorry, but can you read this letter for me, please?" Natsu, annoyed by this woman's halting replies, tries to control his irritation. He walks over as Lucy quickly hands the mail she received earlier. "Here."

Natsu slowly takes the pile of mail and looks down at it, slightly confused as to why he has to read a letter for her._ Forget interesting, I think this woman might be mentally ill. Why can't she read this herself?_ Lucy's voice cuts off his train of thoughts, "My brother's mail should be there. I don't know which is which. I want to know the contents of the letter." Natsu looks down again, taking in what she said and notices the slower, softer tone she used towards the end of her statement. He inquires, "Can you not see?" Lucy, already expecting such a question, answers, "Yes."

The pink-haired man turns pink from sheepishness and guilt overtakes him. He now wanted to give this blind woman at least an ounce of help after learning of her disability, but unfortunately, Natsu was short on time. He releases a deep sigh, and tries to tell her gently, "I'm a bit busy-" Lucy cries out, "My dad is ill, I want to know about my brother's condition, and if he's in a state to meet my father." Slightly shocked by the sudden outburst from the quiet woman, Natsu tries to speak, but a couple of businesspeople pass by, knocking Lucy in the process.

He sees her empty eyes widen in fear, and Lucy utters a gasp. Natsu reaches out, grabbing her arm, and pulls her closer to him so she wouldn't be jostled again by more busy, careless passersby. Lucy's breathing slows, a sign of her calming down. Natsu letting go of her arm, replies, "Sorry, I forgot you can't see. Let's move somewhere less crowded." Natsu is about to advance forward, but realizes his mistake. "Oh, uh, wait. Should I be holding your hand or...?" Lucy sensing his tentative tone, refuses his offer politely, "I'll follow your footsteps. Just let me know if there is something in front." _Rejected again! Man, that's twice, _Natsu thinks. He replies, "Right, footsteps. Uh... If you walk about four steps, there is the adjoining staircase." He warily continues forward, slowly checking back on Lucy as she walks forward with her cane tapping on the white marble floors. Natsu reaches the steps and turns to see Lucy stop. He leans over to hold her arm and lead her down the steps, but she continues on her own. He simply looks back continuously to check that she doesn't fall, despite her seeming to be very capable on her own.

* * *

_The scene then focuses in on the letter in Natsu's hands as they have reached the outside of the building._

Natsu clears his throat, feeling slightly awkward. He then begins to read the letter, "'Hello, Lucy, this is your brother. If you have read the letters I've sent all this time, you may know this-'" Natsu stops reading off of the letter to remark, "Your brother seems to not know that you can't see." Lucy quickly replies, "We were separated when I was six years old. I was able to see back then." He still feels slightly suspicious, but Natsu continues reading the letter, "'As I've said before, I'm running an Italian restaurant and doing very well.'" Natsu mumbles to himself, smirking, "Hah! Ah, this bastard even lied in his letter." Lucy leans forward saying, "Pardon?" Natsu quickly dismisses it, "Never mind...I was talking to myself. I'll continue."

Clearing his throat once more, he reads, "'But aren't you going to come see me? If you've changed your mind, come find me at the address on this letter. The address you have is my business partner's home. But soon, I will buy the apartment from him. As I've said before, after Mom passed away, he's been my trusted friend and even shares the same name as me. Isn't that something?'" Seeing a look of suspicion in her face, Natsu quickly turns defensive and says, "He wrote that! I'm reading exactly as written." Lucy continues to look unresponsive, and Natsu continues, "'How are you doing lately? Probably the same talkative and cute Lucy?'"

His face crinkling, Natsu tells Lucy, "You don't seem talkative at all," He glances at Lucy who now wears a small smile. They stand in brief silence until Lucy asks, "Aren't you going to read the rest of the letter?" Natsu blinks, and upon finding the spot where he left off, he continues, "'I think about you everyday. How tall you must've grown, whether you're still easy-going even without Mom or me there... Living with our distant and scary dad. I wonder if you've been very lonely by yourself..." The letter, having struck something closer to home in Lucy's broken heart, causes tears to silently flow from her unseeing eyes.

Natsu just glances in slight puzzlement at this new emotion she revealed. Lucy, realizing that she wasn't alone, tries to reach in to her bag to find a handkerchief. He sees her struggle to find her handkerchief, and reaches over into his own pocket and quickly fishes out a cotton handkerchief, and placing it in her hand. Lucy replies with a grateful, "Thank you." Natsu, not knowing anything else to say, just replies quickly, "I'll finish reading... 'Also, I want to know what you think of this. The bro who I am living with (the other Su), lives off of his face and fists and is a complete player...'" Lucy couldn't help but chuckle at this. Natsu, embarrassed, replies exasperatedly, "I can't believe he wrote this about me!"

He tries to cover up by saying, "Just to let you know, your brother has a habit of exaggerating. I'll skip past the part he wrote about me, for my privacy's sake." Lucy chuckles and says, "Alright." _This is so weird. It's been a while since I've laughed. Maybe it's because of this person, or is it the letter? Either way, I feel that despite his cold voice, he seems to be generally kind. _As he skims over the parts about him, Natsu quickly takes a look behind him as he picks up the sounds of a car coming. His eyes zone in on a black car with a red flashing light arriving nearby. Realization hits him and his mind starts to spin.

Lucy confused by the delay, asks, "Why aren't you reading?" Natsu sees two men exiting the car. The happy, cheerful mood turns into a tense and silent one, which was then broken by the sudden vibration of his phone. As Natsu answers his phone, immediately, Gajeel's voice responds, "Bro, where are you right now!?" Natsu recognizing his sense of urgency, replies hastily, "Near the apartment." Then, Gajeel yells, "You need to get out of there NOW! Hurry, the cops are coming after you! Minerva, that bitch, framed you after she embezzled President Jiemma's club and disappeared. The word is out on Magnolia's streets. The cops are digging around the clubs and our banks, and Minerva is missing. Just get out of there for now. You'll be screwed if you get caught!"

At this new terrifying information, Natsu glances back at the men who came out of the black van with the red lights flashing at the top. Realization seems to have just stuck Natsu as he freezes in shock. Gajeel's panicked voice yells out from the phone, "Are you listening?! Do you even HEAR ME!?" At the sound of Gajeel's steely voice, the two men turn around to find a stricken Natsu. Their eyes meet briefly and Natsu briskly turns and hides behind the wall with Lucy who stands there confused. Natsu begins to pant out of nervousness as a thousand thoughts begin running through his head. The two policemen glance at each other, sending a message with their eyes. Assuming this man to be their target, they begin to head towards Natsu and Lucy. Natsu quickly hides behind a stone wall. He continues to pant heavily as adrenaline rises while thinking of an escape plan. He then quickly realizes that Lucy is still there. Natsu immediately grabs her by her waist and pulls her to his body, trying to protect her. Lucy, frightened by the sudden movement and touch, squeaks out a frantic retort, "What are you doing?!" Natsu, panicking at her outburst, gently clamps Lucy's mouth shut with his hand and says in a commanding tone, "Just for a second, please.." He continues to pant heavily, still trying to think of how to escape and also keep this blind woman safe. He may be tough, and albeit a bit rude, but he wouldn't try to drag in this obviously broken, blind woman into his own messed-up life.

Lucy repeatedly blinks, trying to sort out in her head what could possibly be happening and trying to calm down her rising fear of helplessness. Natsu looks cautiously around the wall to see how dangerously closer the men are getting. He then with a strained voice tries to reassure Lucy, despite the fact that the odds are very against him. "I won't hurt you, just stay like this for a second," he whispers.

Lucy's head full of panic, thinks, _He keeps telling me to wait, but I can't tell what's happening. I shouldn't have assumed things so quickly about him. I felt like maybe I could trust him. Well, I can't believe I convinced myself of that bs. It's always the same outcome. Trust is always broken eventually, and you only remain with the broken pieces of what used to be a bond. I, of all people, should know this best. _Suddenly, Lucy blinks, her blind eyes seeing some unusual light._ I see this glow again! Nothing is actually visible, yet I feel like there is something more to this... glow._ Lucy squints, trying to get the little glimpse of light into focus._ It looks like...a scar?_

Natsu pants, "Your brother will be here soon. When I leave, go back into the building and ask for your brother." Natsu hurriedly shoves the bundle of letters shakily into Lucy's hands. Her face shows pure terror and even her blank eyes seem to show fear. "Ah wait, the last line of the letter... Your brother says he loves you." _Hopefully that should calm her a little, _Natsu thinks and he says a farewell, "Goodbye."

As soon as those words leave his mouth, Natsu makes a mad dash abandoning Lucy who helplessly calls out, "W-Wait!" Lucy, confused as to how these sudden events had led up, says vulnerably, "Wait, my cane..." She drops to the floor in a frantic search for her cane. It is her only stability and guide. Without it, she could do nothing. The two men rush past her, yelling out curses after Natsu. However, their words are deaf to Lucy, as her only frenzied goal is to find her life preserver, her cane.

* * *

_The scene shifts to Natsu who is running for his life as the other two men follow, hot on his trail._

While running, Natsu gains additional dread at seeing a backup police car arriving. He slows his pace slightly to make a swift, sharp turn and continues his dash. However at that moment, unbeknownst to Natsu, Laxus has returned and is about to casually head towards the hotel when he witnesses the chase. Curious as to why Natsu was being chased by four angry men, he looks stupefied, but soon becomes shocked when Natsu draws nearer, and realization that this was serious finally dawns on him. "Bro, what's wrong?" Laxus asks, confused, but Natsu continues to run. Laxus runs with him while the men behind them yell out, "I told you to stop!"

* * *

_The scene returns back to Lucy who is still in panic mode, blindly feeling the concrete floor for her cane._

Lucy is able to find her bag and quickly puts her brother's precious letter in it. She reaches forward and her hand meets the plastic end of her cane. With relief, she quickly brings the cane towards herself and tries to get back on her feet once more. At that moment, her phone rings, calling out the recipient's name: 'Lawyer, Jellal Fernandez calling.' Gathering her scattered senses, she reaches in her bag and answers the phone with her stoic tone, "It's me, Jellal.."

Natsu and Laxus keep running until they arrive at a busy street in Magnolia. In a daze, Natsu runs out into the street, his mind not registering that doing so was probably extremely dangerous. Laxus yells worriedly after him due to the sudden chase, "Dude! Where are you going!?" Suddenly, there is a sound of an incoming car, and its honking soon follows. But it is already too late for Laxus. The car tries to stop, and the inevitable screeching sounds of tires against asphalt fills the air. However, there is an unmistakable thud of a body hitting a car. The car swerves to the right and Laxus's body tumbles over on the side. Natsu, who is jolted back into reality by this unusual, terrifying sound, turns back. Seeing the fatal accident, his pupils dilate and his eyes widen in pure horror. Things seem to move in slow motion for Natsu as everything finally starts to sink in.

Lucy is still in front of the apartment building where she was abandoned by the man with the same name as her brother. From her phone, her lawyer's hurried, frantic voice yells, "Lucy! Your father is in critical condition at this moment. You need to come home, quickly!" With this sudden news the only thing running through Lucy's frazzled mind is to get a taxi as fast as she can. She continues to pant out the words, "Taxi... Taxi..." despondently hoping that she wasn't too late.

Natsu stares with dilated pupils at the scene before him. It is one of his closest friends, lying on the asphalt with blood trickling down his face, transforming his yellow locks into an ugly shade caked with blood. The car that hit Laxus tries to make a getaway but is halted as the police arrive. Natsu feebly walks toward Laxus with unbelief at the scene unfolding before his very eyes. Suddenly he is grabbed by a pair of strong arms and is pinned to the ground, yet Natsu locks his gaze only onto his friend. "W-w-wait!" Such words fall deaf to the police officers as they continue to push Natsu farther on the ground with a a tight grip so that he had no chance to escape.

Suddenly, as if fate couldn't be any more cruel than it already seemed to be, Natsu's gaze turns upward as the taps of a cane resonate within the sounds of the chaos, which is of course, unknown to Lucy who frantically stumbles to the curb next to them.

With tears pouring down her face, Lucy stops at the curb and with her hand stretched outward, she calls out desperately, "Taxi! Taxi!" All she wanted to do was get a taxi and see her father. It was unknown to her that the very brother she was looking for was lying dead on the floor merely 3 feet away from her. The sounds of bystanders gathering around Laxus's body falls deaf to Lucy as she is in a panicked state for her father's decreasing health. "Taxi! Taxi! TAXI! TAXI!" She continues to weep through her cries for a taxi and pants heavily.

Natsu just gapes in a futile attempt, unable to utter a sound as he takes in the great impact on their lives that have just taken place. Slowly, a throng of people forms around the scene of Laxus's bleeding body and leaves Lucy, the poor blind woman, to continue to wail out, "Taxi! TAXI!"

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone! Mannnn, you guys don't even know how long this took us! Especially because when Julie was writing this chapter, she forgot to save! (Jenny: LOL JULIE! be careful, dude! But I'm being a slacker and not proofing your work.. just sittin' here and eating ice cream. :3) AND THE COMPUTER SHUT DOWN AND WE LOST EVERYTHING! It wasn't a huge loss, but it took alot of time to retype. so yeahh, but it's all for you dedicated readers. WE LOVE YOU! Now it's time for us to hit the hay! we are beat! Goodbye guys! Please remember to R & R! Reviews are the best! - JulJen


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: ELLO! Jenny & Julie back to supply you with even more NALU feels. 3 Well, there aren't many Nalu feels. Just drama bombs... like all of the chapters.. LOL. But hey, Rome wasn't built in a day. You need to have a progressive romance c: Hope you can deal man. ENJOY!

**Disclaimer: We do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. Hiro Mashima does. We also do not own _That Winter, The Wind Blows_. The drama producers do.**

* * *

_The scene changes to a large, old building in the middle of nowhere. The sign on this dingy building reads "Magnolia Jail." It looks positively depressing, inside and out._

Speaking of inside, in this huge prison is a gate that creates a barrier between freedom and imprisonment. It probably is not that important, because a person can probably escape from the jail, but they will be caught instantly by the guards. Therefore, it serves as a mocking, hopeless symbol to all who gets jailed. But Natsu shouldn't be IN this jail to begin with.

The gate doors open with a rattle and two policemen accompany the pink-haired man whose face was the epitome of indifference. But coupled with this indifference is a boiling anger tucked deep in his heart. As for his attire, he did not wear the commonly assumed orange, bright jumpsuit, but a plain brown one with his number on it, '4509'.

Walking down the hall, the three men reach a room and a guard open the door, waiting for Natsu to get in. As he does, the two policemen leave and Natsu's dim and dark eyes become suddenly alert when he sees who is in the room with him. A middle-aged man and Minerva sit in two chairs at a table. Another chair faces this table from the other side. His eyes lock on her smile which shows a hint of smugness.

Seeing these two people, and especially HER, Natsu shakes his head and snickers. Suppressing his incredulous laughter, the air escapes from his nose. At this, Minerva's smile falters. _Didn't think you were this interesting, Minerva, _Natsu thinks as he keeps his infuriated eyes focused on her and walks to the chair, sitting down and slouching.

Now the two sitting opposite of Natsu look uncomfortable, since he keeps staring at both of them with malice. Minerva stares at the side, blinking daintily as if she had done no wrong. Natsu, shocked and in disbelief that this was actually happening to him, starts smiling widely, laughing to himself. Perhaps he is laughing at his ironic fate, and how things had become so messed up, so broken. Or he is beyond pissed off. Maybe that is why it is so hilarious to him. Whatever the reason he has such a giddy laugh, it must have been torture to be under his fiery glaring.

"Who the hell are you?" Natsu asks, still smiling like an idiot. As Minerva stares at him with 'genuine kindness and care', he continues as if they were simply meeting up at a cafe for some coffee, "Your frame job was flawless. I _embezzled_ money from your sugar daddy's club? Me? I've never even visited his office but somehow I falsified his club's accounting statements?"

His angered gaze shifts to the man sitting next to her, "Are you sitting there as her legal advisor?" Natsu asks, jeeringly, "You must have put her up to it. She's not nearly smart enough to come up with such a scenario." Fast as lightning, his eyes switch back to Minerva's calm face, and he asks the million-dollar question, "Why did you do it?"

Just as quickly, Minerva replies, coolly, "For one year... Rot in jail." _ROT IN JAIL! This bitch must have some balls to be even speaking to me with such a tone! _Natsu still glaring, says, "No. I'll hire my own attorney and walk out of here." The queen of mischief and scheming narrowed her eyes in determination as he kept speaking, "I already spoke to the prosecution. They told me that I, no... I mean you, embezzled 5 million jewels. That's more than enough for me to-"

Minerva interrupts, "No, you..." Natsu stares at her, waiting for her to continue. "...embezzled_ 70 million jewels_." His eye twitched as he asked, "W-what? 70 million jewels?" Minerva says with in a complacent tone, "Embezzlement, illegal gambling, and fraud charges on top of that." With a victorious look, she adds, "You will definitely _NOT_ walk out of here."

In shock, his eyes glaze over with angry, very angry tears. Going pale with shock and fury, he watches Minerva's mouth move, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of her lip, "The one year sentence has been agreed upon by the prosecution." Natsu opens his mouth but only air comes out, him being too shocked by such horrible injustice.

Minerva's emotions suddenly change, her eyebrows raising and her eyes brimming with tears as they looked upon a frozen Natsu. "It's all because I love you," she says, her voice trembling, "Stay here for a year while I'll be in Hargeon for filming. I can't bear the thought of you, free to screw around with other girls while I'm away." With this statement, she revealed her true motive. Consuming her heart was jealousy, mad obsession, and the thought of perhaps using this man to her own benefit. "I'm so afraid that you're going to leave me while I'm away," she says, looking a bit delusional.

Natsu feels positively infuriated, incredulous, and doomed. _What kind of bull crap life I lead. What kind of crazy bitch is she? _He leans forward, emotionally exhausted, and props his elbows up on the table, folding his hands. He lets his head rest on his thumbs and stares at the table's surface, trying not to burst. Inside his whole body was fuming and boiling. One word to describe him is a time-set bomb. A bomb which was inevitable to explode wildly.

At the sight of her precious 'lover' going through an emotional breakdown, Minerva worriedly reaches over and clasps his hands. "After your sentence, go to Bosco. I've put the money in a safe account." Suddenly, Natsu's face starts to have slight hints of a smile. Minerva continues, "My President thinks you still have the money. You know how scary that man is, right? If you stay in Magnolia, he'll do whatever he can to get you to give up the money." By now, Natsu's eyes are closed and features of his face jerk, and it looks like his face is having an angry spasm.

He looks up at Minerva whose facade had rubbed away slightly as she spoke. Noticing him staring back at her again, she masks her face with that of a loving, compassionate, and loyal girlfriend, letting go of his hands and straightening. Avoiding his eyes to gather herself, she says, "Don't try to fight it." Then she stares at him straight on once she recovers the prerequisite lines in her head and says, "Like I said, the prosecution has already agreed, and they're in on this, as well."

Natsu's face is blank and gloomy as Minerva continues, "When you get out, just wait for me in Bosco (in Switzerland)," Her rueful smile widens, "We'll start a new life there." The ticking of the bomb inside of Natsu finishes and finally it detonates.

Right as she finishes saying these words, Natsu clenches his teeth and stands up angrily, flipping the table to the side in the process with his shaking hands. The man who has been silent all this time stands up, startled, trying to set the table back after it has been thrown away, and ultimately stands there awkwardly, staring at the situation. Minerva flinches in her seat and bows her head, afraid, and her face scrunches up in fear.

The pink-haired man's face looks like his hair, red from excitement and anger. Minerva's heart thumps faster as she feels the full-on death glare from Natsu's enraged eyes. Breathing heavily, Natsu walks around the scene and behind Minerva's chair in which she sat, her eyes widening in fright.

He puts his hands on her shoulders, making her so afraid of what the man would do to her that she reaches over and grips his hand with what she hoped would convey a loving spirit to him instead, and not of fear. Bending down, Natsu breathes directly in her ear while staring straight ahead, "This... is your definition of love? Screw you. Even if I die by your President's hands, you and I are finished."

Her hand grasps his hand on her shoulder even as he tries to let go, and he forcefully wrenches his hand from her tight grip. She watches him trudge out of the room and slam the door noisily. Minerva dips her head and squeezes her eyes shut.

* * *

Meanwhile, far from Magnolia's prison, a not so cheerful parade of black cars and a lone limousine with a wreath of flowers attached to the front drives down the road in a cemetery. On top of the dismal scene, rain is pouring down on them, causing the skies to become gray and the air uncomfortably cold.

Once they reach their destination to one of the many fields of the cemetery, various chauffeurs dressed in black step out with black umbrellas to shield the important people also dressed in black from the onslaught of rain. Gray Fullbuster steps out of his car with his black umbrella and walks to the car with the flower wreath, now drenched with droplets of water near the front. He turns to look inside, his face showing immense pity.

In the car is a tall frame with an old picture of the late President. Many flowers embellish and festoon it. Sitting next to the frame inside the car is Lucy Heartfilia, looking beautiful even in dark colors. But she stares blankly, her hands clasped together. As Gray stands in front of the car, slightly hesitating to open it. A little ways behind him stands Erza Scarlet, looking at him in concern.

Lucy who felt the car stop a few seconds ago understands that she is at the destination. The place where she would bury her father is right here._ I'm officially an orphan now, I suppose. _She promised herself she wouldn't cry or make a show. She didn't want even more pity than she received every day of her life. Her lower lip trembles. She tries so hard, but her tears eventually fall from her blind eyes, just like the rain that pours out of the sky.

* * *

With his back to the bare prison wall, Natsu sits with his knees bent so he can wrap his arms around them and then stares at the ground in his dreary jail cell. Four rays of light enter his cell through his barred window. He has gotten used to the darkness of his jail cell, but he forces himself to stare at the shining light everyday, so that after one year, he wouldn't be stupidly blinded by it. His eyes hurt slightly, obviously, but it wasn't like it was difficult. This depressing ritual carried on for exactly a year.

After 365 days, or one year as you call it, a rental car is seen driving down a windy road in the snow-covered mountains, as it is winter once more. Inside the car are the two troublemakers, reunited. Natsu's deprived appetite is temporarily satisfied as he bites down on a sweet scone. He and Gajeel are sitting in this car, with Gajeel at the wheel. Gajeel punches the radio, but it doesn't work, of course, due to it being a cheap rental car.

"Damn it. President Jiemma took everything. Your car and cash, including all your stocks and bonds. I was so pissed off that I went to his club and caused a scene then one of his thugs dislocated my shoulder," Gajeel says after trying to fix the radio unsuccessfully.

He keeps talking about the ordeal while Natsu munches on his pastry ravenously, with a strange look in his eye. "So the next day, I went back with a cast, then he broke my leg. I went back after my leg healed, all set on burning his club down."

The car swerves to and fro and came to a stop. They arrive to a place of nature, a frozen lake cozily encased between rocky cliffs and bleak forests; everything is draped in snow. The two stand at the shore of the icy lake and observe the landscape while conversing about what had happened during Natsu's sentence.

It starts to snow lightly and tiny snowflakes drift down. "This time he offered me money to stay and work with him," Gajeel continues his story, "But you know me. I spat on his face!" He demonstrates by doing just that on the snow beneath him. He looks indignant for a moment, but then sighs in discontent with his hands shoved in his pockets. "Anddd then I lost two teeth. Gihi," he says, apparently not too sad about that.

At this, Natsu who had been quiet and unmoving, turns to Gajeel who bares his teeth and points at the two front ones, saying in an almost proud tone, "Two front teeth. Implants." He nearly rolls his eyes in mock annoyance, but stops himself and Natsu turns back to stare at the lake. After five seconds of silence, he asks, "So you spread Laxus's ashes here?"

"I'm not sure why, but he asked me specifically to scatter his ashes here," Gajeel replies, "Then he told me to go to PL Group if things got really tough. They said they'd help if I told them about him." With a regretful chuckle, he remarked, "He held on to that lie to the end, huh?" Natsu's eyes flitted about, as if in deep thought. "Still... He was a nice guy," Gajeel says, exhaling small puffs of air into the cold breeze.

"Oh," he continues, "We have to go to Laxus's rooftop room. We have nowhere else to go, since they took our penthouse and just about everything..." Natsu, who had been holding a thin bouquet of three carnations, swings his arm back and hurls it a bit halfheartedly, causing it to land on the frozen lake as light snowflakes slowly pile on top of it. "I want you to leave this business," he says simply after throwing the bouquet. He walks away towards the car and Gajeel stares at him in surprise.

Chagrined, he runs up to Natsu and pulls his arm so they are facing each other. In a confused tone, Gajeel asks, "What?!" With a determined look, Natsu says, "Or go work with Jiemma." "You out of your mind? I've waited a whole year for you and you say this nonsense," Gajeel says, sneering and walking away. Now it's Natsu's turn to pull him back by the arm.

Natsu says, "I'm not joking. You told me that it was your dream to build a big dairy farm for your dad." Listening to him talk about his lifelong dream that would probably never happen made Gajeel sober up and actually consider about it for a split-second. But no, no matter how idiotic Natsu was sometimes, he had to stick by his only friend. _Or else there is no telling what he would do without me, his best friend_, Gajeel thought, proudly. Natsu continues as he shifts his gaze to the snowy ground, "It's not a betrayal to go after your own dream."

Gajeel retorts sarcastically, "Why don't you do the betraying? Then it should be fine." Looking up at him and shaking his head, Natsu finally ends the conversation by leaving to the car. Gajeel, who didn't like to be serious and scary all the time, grinned cheerfully. He dashed over to Natsu and punched him playfully, saying, "You can't betray me, right? 'Cuz you looove me! Because we're loyal men. Now what're you gonna do? Are we getting back into the game?" Natsu smirks as Gajeel, now pumped up, asks, "Or are we gonna get President Jiemma and reclaim what's lost?" Wanting to be serious and not silly at this moment, Natsu stubbornly says, "You never did listen to me."

Gajeel did not deny their 'bromance' and grins ear to ear from anticipation, his sharp teeth showing. He dropped to his knees and raises his fists to the air. He yells loudly into chilly air, his voice resonating between the mountains and forests, "YES! HERE WE COME, WORLD! YOU BETTER WATCH OUT CUZ YOU'RE ALL DEAD MEAT!" He added his signature "Gihi" sneakily after the end. Natsu, unfazed by the funny visual -only slightly amused in his head- stares at the lake, musing. Gajeel gets up from his knees which were getting cold, scurries to Natsu's side again, and says gratefully, "I can finally return that crummy rental car." The two leave the quiet, untouched part of nature in Magnolia and the small offering to Laxus's silent soul.

* * *

The scene changes to a quite opposite place in the city. It is nighttime and a large building in the middle of the city radiates power and wealthiness. There are two bridges adjoining this with another building which serves as some of the entrances into this building. It is illuminated by only a few lights on the perimeter and by the other lights of the bustling nighttime city. On the lower bridge is the main entrance where some lackeys are getting into a fistfight with Gajeel, of course.

Leaning against the rail is Natsu, looking terribly bored. Gajeel, clearly enjoying the petty fight, jeers, "You won't front us the cash? Why won't you bet on someone who's got 99.9% chance of winning?" As he says 'someone,' he jerks his head toward Natsu, meaning him. "Call your good for nothing President Max out here! President Max!" He says, trying to get into the club, but is roughly blocked by the lackeys.

A man with an apologetic look comes out and says, "I'm sorry, Natsu. President Jiemma is already over here. Our hands are tied, cut us some slack here." Natsu closes his eyes momentarily, a flashback entering his tired mind.

His flashback took place at an elegant party held at a wealthy, fancy mansion. It was a place where you had to make sure that you were in check, or else you'd dearly pay for it. Why? Because it was the house of the man you gambled with. At least that was so in Natsu's situation.

Minerva, dressed in luxurious garb, sensually walked up to Natsu, who was dressed in blue and holding a wine glass, swirling its contents a bit. She stroked his arm with all the other fancily attired guests watching, under the glow of the chandelier above. With this she walked away, as Natsu stared after her in a strange desire. President Jiemma sees this, of course, and tried to figure out what the impossible thoughts which were beginning to stir in this pink-haired man's mind.

Probably not much later, a spiral staircase leading up to a floor with balcony above is where Natsu is seen walking away from Minerva. She rushed after him, climbing the spiral staircase that leads to the floor. President Jiemma is on the second floor, watching from the glass balcony. Minerva screeched, "HEY!" A smile plastered across her face, and the President looked on, intrigued as he placed his arms on the glass, observing, are the last parts of the reminiscence and they fade away into reality.

Natsu lets out a breath he didn't know he had been holding as the man next to him takes out a bundle of jewels, saying, "Here, it's not much-" Natsu didn't even have time to eye the jewels before Gajeel slaps the man's hand and says angrily, "What do you take us for?"

Without a bit of hesitation, he then punches the guy's face, hard. The man grunts, "You-!" Gajeel strikes him down again and punches the other lackeys one by one. One lackey holds onto him obstinately like a leech as Gajeel tries to fling him off. Natsu, annoyed by everything disrupting his thoughts, stands up and grabs the lackey's body, tossing him away from Gajeel who swears, still kicking at the other lackeys on the floor as soon as he is freed.

"Stop!" Natsu orders and Gajeel hesitantly does. They both look down at the slightly mangled faces of the men on the floor. "Stay down," Natsu tells the lackeys in a commanding tone. Then as he takes out his phone from his coat pocket, Gajeel taunts at them, "If not for Natsu, you guys would be dead by now, you know that?"

Natsu walks away from the scene, talking on the phone. "Yes, Romeo, it's me... Yeah, well... First, let's meet up and-" Natsu stops abruptly, listening to the man on the other side. "What? Things to do?" He exhales, irritated, and asks, "Are you, by any chance, avoiding me as well?"

The ending beep sounds and his face crinkles in angry disbelief, "Hello? Hello?" Exasperatedly, he puts the phone back in his pocket as Gajeel joins up and asks, "Was that Romeo just now? Oh, he's so dead." He wants to add more but stops himself when he sees the rage forming slowly in Natsu's eyes. He leaves the bridge to possibly beat up some more lackeys and Natsu is left fuming by himself, steam literally escaping from his nose similar to a dragon.

He turns to go back to Gajeel and perhaps talk him out of being stupid and getting himself hurt, but is interrupted by an all-too familiar voice.

"You look lonely." The owner of that voice registers in his head. Usually, Natsu is never scared. But now, he becomes oh so slightly afraid. His eyes flit around, looking for an escape route, an exit, anything, before he turns around to face him.

Turning around slightly, he comes face to face with a man with bright blonde hair sipping some juice from his straw. He has a nonchalant look on his face while Natsu starts to sweat. A confrontation on a bridge overlooking the flashing lights of cars speeding by is about to occur. However, it is more like a one-sided, unfair confrontation.

He walks cheerfully up to Natsu as if it was a happy reunion. Natsu eyes him warily as he says, "Why do I feel so warm?" He wears a smile which brings out his unnerving, dangerous handsomeness and leisurely sips his juice once more. "78 million jewels. 70 million jewels you owe to President Jiemma. The rest of the jewels or my 10% commission, plus a year of interest, you owe me. It adds up to be 78 million jewels." Natsu gathers his confidence and stares him straightly as Sting says, "When are you gonna pay up?"

Natsu says firmly, "78 million jewels? Tch, is that some baby's name? I haven't seen anything even close to that." Sting retorts cheerfully, "Me neither haha, but thanks to you, I get to see it with my own eyes as well." Natsu replies defiantly, "If I don't pay up, what are you going to do?" As if reprimanding a forgetful child, Sting says, "You already know the answer to that!"

With a questioning look on his face, Natsu's confidence decreases. Sting's happy go lucky countenance changes to a serious look as he continues, "You can go down for it quietly, or... You may be lucky enough to take me with you." Exactly where could they be lucky enough to go together? Jail? No, he was speaking of... death. No matter how much Natsu had wanted to give up before he wasn't about to die like this! Not for a stupid frame job, he was not going to go down as someone else's scapegoat, his pride is greater than that.

Starting to smile again, Sting sips his juice and says, "I'll give you 100 days, starting today. Exactly 100." He walks around a flaming Natsu, who blinks hard, trying not to explode again right there. Calming himself down, he turns around, trying to talk it through with Sting again, but is subdued unjustly by Sting's sharp knife.

As he turned around, Sting was right behind him with a knife in hand, stabbing him deeply. A sickening sound of metal sliding against skin is all Natsu hears before everything begins to go blurry. The sudden, searing agony causes Natsu's eyes to widen in shock and his mouth to open, forcing guttural, pained noises to depart from him. He wants to cough up blood but his throat is stuck. Sting stares solemnly ahead, his devious hands still pushing the knife deeper and deeper through Natsu, each millimeter causing the pink-haired man to jolt. In shock, Natsu reaches up and grab Sting's shoulder, a silent message of mercy, begging him to stop.

Sting whispers closely in his ear, "Next time, I'll aim 100 cm to the right. Just because I'm being civil to you now, I don't want you to think we're still on friendly terms." Natsu, trembling violently, rigidly clenches his teeth and exhales, doing his best not to collapse.

In a truly evil voice, Sting takes Natsu's quivering hand from his shoulder and places it on the piercing knife. Gagging on his own blood, Natsu's eyes blur with tears. Not being able to do anything, Natsu stares at Sting with a vengeful, yet intensely agonizing look, gasping again when Sting pushes the knife a little deeper with the victim's own hand. "You'd better get to the hospital." Sting whispers finally.

Briskly, he gets up and leaves Natsu there wide-eyed and in complete pain. Clutching the bloody dagger as he pulls it out of his body, he ignores the wet, disgusting feeling of his own blood gushing out, still reeling from the initial pain. Trying to help himself, his shaking hands reach for the railing but he caves in and falls to the floor in a heap, one hand still holding the knife's handle. _Am I going to survive this?_

* * *

A/N: WE ARE SO SORRY MORE CLIFFY CLIFF CLIFFHANGERS! And even more DRAMA BOMBZ exploding everywhere like nobody's business! Poor Natsu. You gonna be okay? Sting is so evil now! What are you PLANNING! (Julie: I just thought he needed an ego and attitude check then he would be a super fine smexy guy buuuut why you gotta go an be all evil huh?) Anyway, we're tired. (Jenny: I wrote this right as I woke up, lol and Julie writes way late at night.) Hope you stay tuned for eventual nalu feels. Please review, rate, and follow!~ R & R! 3, JulJen, your best Fairy Tail friends. P.S I know you faithful readers are itching for the nalu scenes but just be a little more patient it is on its way I assure you so stay tuned!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hi everyone! We are back and ready with a new chapter to fulfill your hungry desire for them feels! Haha, we'll do our best, so continue to support us with your reviews. WE LOVE YOU ALL!~ -Julie & Jenny

**Disclaimer: We do not own Fairy Tail of any of its characters. Hiro Mashima does. We also do not own _That Winter the Wind Blows_. The drama producers do.**

* * *

_The scene shifts to a sophisticated room filled with eager paparazzi and young company assistants ready to take in the words of the new CEO of the PL Group Company. All eyes and cameras follow the people who have entered into the room. Erza leads the way and everyone is focused on the young woman trailing after her. Gray follows suit with Jellal in tow. The applause rings and reverberates within the room. _

Lucy is guided by Erza to the lectern and now faces the audience with a small, polite but fake smile. Despite her facade, she plays out a good pokerface as she maintains an air of dominance and businesslike mood. The applause soon dies down as Lucy begins to explain the plans for the company. "I'm a little nervous to be standing here today. I'm sure it's not because of my disability. I'm certain that my father would have been nervous as well." Some chuckles are exchanged in the room due to the fact that it was impossible to imagine _the _Jude Heartfillia with such trivial things as nervousness, because he was always stone faced and direct. Jellal smiles nervously at the crowd, grateful for Lucy's ice breaker. Lucy smiles genuinely herself a little, and continues her speech smoothly.

"Without further delay, please focus your attention to the screen." Lucy reaches towards the computer while hovering slightly over the keypad trying to locate the 'Enter' arrow key. She is successful and progresses to the next slide. "PL Group's main focus will be progressive design to propel us to the top tier design group." Multiple images of suits and fashion alike appear on the screen while the audience gazes at it, contemplating or jotting down notes. Lucy continues on without much faltering or hesitance. Jellal looks on in pride, seeing the confident stature she holds that reminds him of her father, while Gray stares at her silently. Lucy finally ends the meeting with a simple, "Thank you." Everyone rises from their seats applauding the new heir to the company, including Erza and Jellal who hold looks of admiration and satisfaction. However, Gray sighs heavily and glances away lazily and a look of indifference passes his face.

_The scene changes with Lucy, Erza, Jellal, and Gray in the elevator. Jellal and Erza both share the same looks of joy from how well the meeting had gone while Gray contrasts against their joy with a look of boredom. Lucy in a similar manner is simply closed off and stoic._

Jellal, with an ecstatic grin, cheers Lucy by saying, "Today was a real hit! You were awesome! The way the investors looked at you was as if they were gazing at some celebrity with amazement. They were saying that your CEO status should be made permanent. Just thinking of how proud your father would have been of you, if he were still alive... makes me stupidly... makes me want to cry..." Jellal sniffles, and smothers his slight tears by blinking rapidly.

Lucy smiles towards him, even though she despised the meeting. To her his praises were meaningless. It still warmed her heart to hear Jellal's caring words, of course. Even if he wasn't blood related, to her, he was a part of her family. "It's probably just for today." Suddenly the happy aura leaves as a sullen atmosphere creeps up in the elevator, Lucy continues, "I know that I'm just a namesake President." Jellal's smile disappears. "When the three month's term ends, the shareholders will elect Representative Kim as their new CEO. Everyone only acknowledged me in the presentation today because my blindness is a valuable asset for this project. The press probably also looked at me in wonder, as if they were looking at a monkey in a zoo. Because a blind person like me, made a presentation."

Erza gently reaches over to squeeze Lucy's arm as a sign of comfort in this difficult position.

Lucy sighs but keeps smiling as she says, "Still, since it's not home or a charity center, but a place like this that I've come to... It was pretty fun."

The room falls silent. Lucy is taken out of the elevator to her awaiting car. Jellal helps her into the front passenger seat next to Erza. "Arrive home safely, Lucy." Lucy turns to his voice with a tinge of shock in her voice as she asks, "Jellal, aren't you coming to our place today?" Solemnly he answers, "Let's have dinner next time. There is something that your father asked me to do. Now that I'm looking after you, I just need to put aside my work and follow his will."

Curious as to what Jude Heartfilia could have entailed in the will, Erza asks, "What was the will?" Jellal smiles a genuine smile as he says, "It's going to be a surprise. Be excited for it. Now, watch the door Lucy and take care." He closes the door and fellow PL Group members bow in respect as they leave.

Suddenly Jellal's cellphone rings as he watches them depart. He picks up and answers, "Yes, this is Lawyer Jellal Fernandez... What? You found him?! Oh okay. Let's meet first." He ends the call and heads off.

* * *

_The scene shifts to Lucy and Secretary Erza in the car._

Lucy turns to Erza and asks, "What did Jellal say?"

Erza chuckles a little as she answers, "I'm not sure either, but wait... When are you and Gray going to set the date?" It has already been two years since you got engaged."

The air around Lucy turns into a displeasing and stoic mood as she answers stiffly, "I'm not going to marry him. The engagement was Dad's idea. I have no interest in this."

Slightly shocked by such a harsh answer, Erza questions, "Why not? I thought you were interested in Gray. Aren't you?"

Lucy thinks resentfully, _Why is Erza so pushy about this? She isn't even my mom. She's just my secretary; why is she trying to pry so much on such trivial matters? Hmph. Love? Marriage? What am I going to do with that? Those don't hold the same meaning to me. Love is petty. You'll just get yourself betrayed. Marry? Well, looking at the morals of men nowadays, they cheat on their wives and divorce. I don't need that. _Lucy answers curtly, "Do other people get married just because they are interested in someone?"

Struck by such a blunt question, Erza falters in her answer, "T-That's... why?"

Lucy, hearing Erza's stammering, says in an irritated tone, "Are you saying I need to settle and marry him out of interest, since I'm handicapped?"

Hastily, Erza tries to assure Lucy upon hearing her sullen reply, "That's not what I meant, Lucy..."

"That's what it sounded like to me," Lucy retorts, "Let's just say it is an inferiority complex I have because I am handicapped."

Unable to say more, Erza remains quiet as they continue to drive homeward.

* * *

_The scene changes to a hospital where we find Gajeel rushing down a flight of stairs._

"Damn it, where did he go?! Where the hell is he!?" Frustrated by the sudden disappearance of Natsu, Gajeel yells, "Where are you, Natsu?!" and patients turn to stare at him. One feeble man walks up to Gajeel and says, "If you are looking for the man with pink hair, I saw him leave earlier wearing plain clothes." Gajeel yells out in shock. "He changed and left? Where the heck does he think he can go in his condition! Ugh, he's such a freaking hassle!" He quickly hands the old man a bottle of water that he was unconsciously holding and dashes out the front door.

_The comely scene of a hospital is swapped with a loud and disoriented lobby of a club. A man is angrily yelling into his phone._

"Did you hear me? Bring all the boys, Natsu is here, Natsu! Gather everyone at the back door of the club, NO exceptions. I won't tolerate it if anyone is a no show. Do you think I'll go down alone?" Suddenly a thud is heard as a swift punch is launched into Romeo by Natsu. Natsu continues to pelt Romeo with punch after punch, and despite the pain it causes, Natsu executes a severe kick directly into Romeo's stomach. As the boy collapses to the floor, the phone is launched out of Romeo's hand. He tries to reach for it, however his attempts are futile as Natsu is faster and kicks it away. Natsu, whose anger is reaching the boiling point inside of him, stares down Romeo with a fierce glare who cowardly looks anywhere other than the flaming pink-haired man's eyes.

"Did you call the guys?" Natsu says in a low voice.

"W-What guys? I wouldn't do that," Romeo lies poorly. He quickly grabs onto Natsu's legs desperately and kneels in fake repentance, "After all those years you looked after me Natsu, I wouldn't do that to you!"

Irritated by his obvious lies, Natsu grabs Romeo and pins him to the wall, letting him see the fiery anger within his eyes. "I thought the others might... But Romeo... You wouldn't do that, right?"

Romeo cries out, "O-Of c-course not, bro... I would never. You took care of me."

"And?" Natsu growls, "What else have I done for you?!"

Now in tears, Romeo stutters as his bloody lips tremble, "You helped me buy a house and saved my life a few times as well... GET HIM!"

His sudden yell surprises Natsu, and soon the thundering sound of many lackeys running in enter Natsu's ears. He pushes Romeo to the side and fights off the pathetic goons. Uppercut, Right punch, Left punch, Side kick, and so many still coming. Natsu takes out many of them, knocking some down the flight of stairs. However, one lackey gets behind him and manages to hit Natsu with a pipe, successfully dazing him, which allowed the remaining lackeys to land barrages of attacks on his already injured body. Blood slowly trickling down his head, Natsu's body gives out as he collapses on the floor. His vision becomes blurred, yet he fights to stay concious.

A pair of footsteps reach him and Natsu grabs on to the person's leg and brings his head up to look straight into Sting's eyes. He looks down at him with such disgust and contempt as if he had just stepped in dog poo. "Are you still innocent enough to believe in such a pathetic thing like loyalty? This isn't fun," Stings mocks.

Natsu could only reply in disgruntled pants and groans.

Sting crouches down to meet Natsu at eye level and says, "Time is going by fast, isn't it? You have 93 days now." Stings slaps Natsu's bruised and bleeding face and gets up, leaving him crouched over the floor. The lackeys eventually drop Natsu on the side of the street and leave him to either die or maybe somehow, if fate is merciful, find shelter. Natsu manages to get up and is hunched over as he stumbles out of the oncoming traffic-filled street and towards his home. Unable to climb upstairs, he pants heavily as he crouches over the balcony.

Meanwhile, Jellal climbs up the stairs leading to Natsu's house and tentatively approaches the hunched figure at the railed balcony. "Excuse me, may I ask you something? Is this-" His sentence is cut short as Natsu turns to face this unfamiliar man.

Upon seeing Natsu's many welts and bruises, Jellal takes a gulp and tries again, "Excuse me, is this Mr. Soo's house?"

Still in pain, Natsu replies shortly, "Yes."

Excited to have found the house of the man Jellal had been looking for, he asks, "Is he home?"

Natsu replies weakly using his nickname, "I am Soo."

Unable to believe his eyes, Jellal steps closer to analyze Natsu's marred face. "You're Soo? But why is your face...?"

Tired and annoyed, Natsu stumbles around the man to get home.

However, Jellal quickly takes a hold of Natsu's arm and says, "Hold on... I'm Lawyer Jellal Fernandez, your uncle. I can hardly recognize you."

Weirded out by this stranger, Natsu stares back at Jellal with a blank look.

Registering that Soo may not remember of his childhood, Jellal asks, "You don't remember me? I am the corporate lawyer for PL Group, your dad's company. Your dad and I went to the same school, and when you were young, we used to go fishing together. Don't you remember?"

Thoroughly confused by the this man's ramblings, Natsu looks down at the business card the man had handed him. It read 'PL Group company' and listed Jellal's name and job. After gazing at it, memories of this company hit Natsu as a flashback of Laxus starts.

_Flashback (Also Natsu's thoughts):_

_"As PL Group's son and heir, even if I starve to death, I won't live like you guys," Laxus said. We thought he was joking... Was he really their heir?_

_"Laxus said to spread his ashes here as he was dying. And if living gets tough, to go to PL group for help and that they'd help if we told them about him," Gajeel said when we went to the frozen lake in the mountains after I was bailed out of jail. _

_"78 million jewels... You now have 93 days left," Sting said. Only a millionaire would come up with that money. And if I don't, I'll be a rotten carcass by then. Laxus... really was PL Group's heir! PL Group, a rich company, whose late heir's name just so happens to be my name. Pl Group, who doesn't even know if Laxus is still alive._

The newfound realization that this PL Group was his one way ticket to freedom had Natsu frozen in shock.

Concerned by Natsu's frozen state, Jellal hesitantly asks, "What's wrong, Soo? Do you really not remember me?"

With tears forming from the overwhelming turn of events that fate has brought, Natsu quickly replies, "No... I remember," Nonchalantly, he joked, "You've aged a bit, Uncle Jellal."

Happy to see that Soo had finally recognized him and as well as seeing the genuine tears of remembrance on his face, Jellal began to smile because he thought that he had finally found Lucy's long-lost brother.

* * *

A/N: WOOOOOAAAAAAH, NATSU!? **_YOU IS GONNA BE LUCY'S FAKE BROTHER!_** WAAAAAT!? *O* CRAZY! Also, sorry if updates may be a little slow. It's because Julie has to go to a PSAT academy which is a total butt! While Jenny's at home eating ice cream. (Jen: Lucky me ^^) Make sure to review and follow us!~ so please await the next chap! THANK YOU!~


	7. IMPORTANT UPDATE, please read!

**Not a chapter, but an update! HEY PEOPLE, PLEASE READ! REALLY IMPORTANT!**

So we haven't been updating in a while, and we're sorry about that. It's because one of us is super busy with life, stuff, and other issues. The other one of us is also kinda busy but not as much as the first! Therefore, we're announcing a hiatus. :'( Sowwy. We know you want the NALU and so do we, but we don't have much time to write... Well, we have a chapter we wrote ahead of time, so I shall post that and then you ppl might have to wait for a while. T^T Don't worry, it's probably not the end, we'll be back when we don't have any other priorities! _That Winter the Wind Blows_ and _What I'm Here For_ will be momentarily delayed. ;-; Thanks to the followers and reviewers, we love you like cray.

We'll be back soon. keep loving ft~ ^^

**Sincerely, Julie and Jenny c:**

_p.s. have questions? go to this account's fairy tail tumblr and inquire in the ask! celestial-flames (put in the tumblr url after)_


	8. Chapter 7

A/N: HEYY KIDZ it's time for more feels. Actually, not much goes on in this chap. just tons of dramatic dialogue LOL.

**Disclaimer: We do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. Hiro Mashima does. We also do not own ****_That Winter the Wind Blows._**** The drama producers do.**

* * *

"R-really?" Jellal's face breaks out in an open-mouthed grin. Natsu just stands there against the railing, trying to prepare himself for what he had just gotten himself into. His eyes become wet with tears because of the pain he was going through, but to Jellal, they were tears of remembrance and joy.

Suddenly they are interrupted by Gajeel's loud, rough voice, "Bro, what is this?!" The two turn to see an angry Gajeel walking towards them, saying, "Do you know how much I looked for you?" Alarmed that he would give away his spur-of-the-moment plan, Natsu runs over and blocks him from reaching Jellal.

Gajeel cocks his head at the sight of blood on Natsu's pink hair and face, his angry tone turning into a worried one, "What's wrong with your face?" Then he looks at Jellal who had a look of confusion on his face. Gajeel asks bluntly, "Who's that?" Panicking that Gajeel would say something stupid and ruin it all, he mutters, "Go in the room."

Still, Gajeel stubbornly persists, "But who are you, Mister? Why is that person over here this late? Who are you?" Natsu keeps trying to push him away from Jellal and into the small rooftop house, but it is difficult for him as he is wounded. Gajeel turns to Natsu and asks with Natsu's nickname, "Su, who is that guy?"

Despite the slightly rude man who had just come, Jellal smiles because it was a confirmation that this man was really Lucy's brother._ I'm glad he made a friend during this time when he was away from the family, _Jellal thought, happily. Gajeel continued with his rants trying to squirm away from Natsu blocking him, "What is this guy doing here in the middle of the night?

Very anxious to get Gajeel out of this situation, Natsu pushed Gajeel into the rooftop room. "Huh?!" Gajeel protests, "Why are you being like this? Tell me! Bro, what's wrong. Did that guy somehow do this to you?" Natsu kept pushing him up the stairs, trying to smother his stupid yelling as Jellal hurried up the stairs behind them, wanting to invite Natsu back into the PL Group's household. He wanted to do this for Lucy's sake, since she had lost her father a year ago.

"What are you fricking doing!?" Gajeel shouts just as Natsu shoves him into the room and stays outside. Not until he locks the door from the outside does he relax. Gajeel, who is locked in the room alone starts knocking wildly on the door's windowpane, ever so persistent.

Jellal arrives at the scene and stands there, a bit hesitant to ask Su about what he would do as the heir of PL Group. Natsu takes a deep breath and uses a voice of reason with his back to the door, "As you can see, I don't think we can talk today. Let's talk next time." At this, Jellal outstretches his hand quickly and says, "Su." Natsu looks at him and repeats a bit more firmly, "I said we'll talk next time. I'll call you." At this, Jellal became slightly disheartened that Su couldn't come with him immediately.

Meanwhile, Gajeel is still knocking nonstop on the door, yelling, "Su!" The door finally opens and he blinks in surprise when Su barges in and shut the door on Jellal's surprised face. His eyes wide with confusion, Gajeel asks, "What's wrong?" Seeing Natsu's apparent distraught and heavy breathing, he taps his shoulder and questions noisily, "Did Sting send that guy? Or President Jiemma?"

_He'll hear you, you idiot! _Natsu thought as he turned to Gajeel rapidly and clamped his mouth forcefully with his hand. Suddenly, Jellal started knocking and calling out Natsu's nickname. Gajeel's eyes turned wider than ever as he tried to talk but was muffled by Natsu's hand. He tries to jerk away from Natsu's strong hold but for the sake of his plan, Natsu keeps Gajeel's mouth shut as Jellal knocks away.

Finally giving up, Jellal stops knocking much to the relief of Natsu who was sweating from panic. Jellal exhales, and his breath is visible in the cold night. "If you saw the newspaper, then maybe you will already have known, but your father passed away a year ago," he says to Natsu and Gajeel listening inside.

Gajeel's face crumples into a look of puzzlement at this information and obstinately tries to pull himself away but Natsu, with all of his might, keeps him at bay, mentally begging him to stop moving. Jellal continues on the other side, "It seems like you're upset that I came for you now, but your dad had problems, too." Jellal looks geniunely worried for the man who he thought was Su.

As Natsu's eyes open wide of shock while in this sticky situation, Jellal goes on unknowingly, "Su, your one and only sister, Lucy, is waiting for you." A ton of things are going through Natsu's mind as Jellal says, "Think about Lucy."

Standing there, Natsu suddenly remembers of Laxus telling him about his name, the memory pierces him like a dagger. "Ah, my mom wanted me to be somebody who would protect my sister and the world." Then he remembers the blind woman that same day, asking him to read a letter from Laxus. He remembers the name Lucy on the letter as he opened it to read.

His mind takes him back to the scene of Laxus's unjust death. He remembers it clearly, as if it was yesterday. Pinned to the ground by the police, all Natsu could see was Laxus's lifeless body on the pavement, and next to him standing at the curb, waving her hand desperately for a taxi, was Lucy, not even knowing her brother was dead at her feet.

Now that this man had come, thinking that Natsu was Su, causes him to put the pieces together. Laxus, who is gone from the world, was Lucy's brother and the affluent PL Groups' heir, now that their father is also dead. Take into mind, reader, that Natsu had a huge debt to pay off by the end of a 100 days, or you'll know what will happen.

Jellal says, "It was your dad who upset you, not Lucy. It's not her fault. Su... she can't see. She's blind. You're the only person she can lean on." There is silence, and Jellal knocks on the door once more, saying, "Su? Su!"

Becoming agitated by his constant persuasions and wanting time to brood by himself, Natsu yells harshly, "I said I'll call!" Jellal moves away from the door, slightly startled, and relents, "I will leave for today. You must be confused," he says, understanding that he may need to think about it. "When... you calm down, contact me," Jellal repeats, wanting to confirm it.

Jellal walks down the stairs and looks up once more at the closed off house, before leaving the building. As soon as he heard Jellal's footsteps vanish, Natsu removed his hand from Gajeel, who let out an exasperated breath and shook his head in incredulity and confusion. Natsu rushes over the window in a hurry and Gajeel, who leans on the wall, asks indignantly, "What's wrong with you?"

Gajeel walks up behind him and looks out the window, asking with a scowl on his face, "What are you looking at?" Jellal's car was parked outside and the blue-haired man approached it and opened the car door, as if to step in. Natsu and Gajeel both squinted at him, while Gajeel was mostly just looking because Natsu was.

Jellal stops and slowly turns around to look at the window from where Natsu and Gajeel were looking. When he looks, Natsu hurriedly pushes himself and Gajeel away from the window, hoping that he hadn't seen them. Gajeel stares at Natsu, trying to make sense of his odd behavior. Getting into the car and finally leaving, Jellal heaves a sigh and bids the driver to take him home.

Natsu then looks out the window and watches the car leaving. His eyes seem to get smaller as he finally loosens up and his face becomes less tense. Then, suddenly, he looks around crazily, as if searching for something that might save his life. He finally finds what he is looking for at the foot of the desk, a large bag containing a few things they salvaged from their previous house.

His frenzied eyes darting about, Natsu bends down and rummages the bag wildly. Gajeel observes him with bewilderment, saying, "What are you doing? Say something, why are you being like this?" Natsu ignores him and ruffles through the bag, throwing aside books and binders, nearly giving himself a paper cut in the process. Although a paper cut wouldn't even compare to the things he just went through.

Not finding what he exactly needed in the bag, he nervously looks to his left, where a box sat. He pulls the box closer to him roughly, and opens it, his hands going this way and that, in a frantic search. He picks up a wallet and pulls out Laxus' old id card. He puts it back in the wallet compartment and opens the wallet to find a picture of Laxus' family portrait. A young Laxus stood next to his mother who sat next to a man with a young Lucy -Natsu assumed- sitting on his lap. It was sad that only one of these four were alive now.

Gajeel leans his head forward to look at the picture, still not sure as to why Natsu was rifling through Laxus' old stuff. But Natsu quickly closes it and moves on to a thin album filled with old articles of PL Group. There were certain sentences that were highlighted and underlined, most likely done by Laxus. Realizing that Laxus was definitely PL Group's heir, Natsu closes the book, sets it back in the box, dazed from the sudden mental jolt he received. He sits on the floor, leaning on the bed like a rag doll, full of no emotion and blankness.

"What is all this?" Gajeel questions, seeing that Natsu calmed down. With his jaw slightly open in shock, Natsu wordlessly reaches into his coat pocket, takes out the PL Group business card that Jellal had given to him, and lets his hand flop on the floor like a fish. Gajeel reaches down and takes the card from his hand. As he straightens, he brings the card closer to his eyes to read what is written.

"PL Group. Lawyer Jellal Fernandez?" Gajeel says, flipping the card over to see if there was anything else, not really getting what was Natsu's point. Natsu's eyes dilate as he stutters, "L-Laxus was really PL Group's son."

Grinning, Gajeel chuckles, "No way!" Still stunned, Natsu continues, "Su, whose dad passed away. He was looking for Laxus. He was looking for him." Gajeel's carefree smile disappears, and he plops down on the bed, his eyes locked on Natsu's dumbfounded face. "Really?" Gajeel asks, in disbelief. When Natsu didn't reply, Gajeel looks away apathetically, saying, "So what? He's already dead." Turning back to Natsu, he asks without much concern about it all, "Did you tell them he died?"

Natsu slightly shakes his head no, and Gajeel says, "No? Why not?" Natsu turns his head to stare at Gajeel who lifts his eyebrows as if to prompt him to speak. "I... don't know," Natsu utters the truth, "I just... I just pretended to be the dead Su." Gajeel's look of indifference turns into one of shock and horror. "What? WHAT?!" Gajeel sputters.

The scene changes to Natsu out for a jog in Magnolia. He has on a black tracksuit and all of his wounds are patched up and bandaged. One part of his lip is still slightly bruised. His face is not one of gladness, however.

Back at the rooftop house, the balcony and floor are covered with snow. Gajeel is doing the laundry as Levy stands next to him with large, orange, and slightly outrageous earmuffs protecting her ears from the sharp cold. Gajeel shouts at her while holding a wet shirt, "Yeah, we're crazy. We're freaking insane. So what?!" Levy exhales, and stares at him with annoyance. "He looks like he's going to die, so why not help us out even more!? Gonna rat us out? Go ahead and tell, ya brat!" Gajeel spits out as he flings the shirt angrily on the rack.

Taking off her earmuffs, she glares at Gajeel, saying with contempt, "Do you think I won't, you crazy bastard?" Gajeel retorts, "No, I know you'll do it, you insane brat. Go ahead and do it!" He walks around the laundry rack and stands in front of a pissed Levy. "Your sister is dead and she is still bothering Natsu. You're alive right now and you're annoying Natsu. Why don't you two sisters go ahead and kill him?" Something cracks inside of Levy at the mention of her dead sister, and Gajeel adds salt to the wound by saying, "What did Natsu do to you guys, for you to act like this?"

With dead seriousness, Levy looks daggers into Gajeel's eyes and mutters, "He threw away my sister." Gajeel yells, "If he doesn't like her, then he has every right to throw her away." At this, Levy sharply raises her hand to throw a punch despite her height, but Gajeel grabs her by her wrist and continues, "If a boy and girl don't like each other, then it's natural to break up! What's the problem?"

Levy's hard glare slightly falters as tears threaten to fall from her wet eyes. Gajeel, noticing her eyes tearing up, scowls and lets go of her arm, muttering, "Crying for no reason..." They stand there still in anger and in awkwardness when Natsu returns from his jog.

Seeing Natsu, Gajeel turns and leaves in a huff. Levy remains there, as still as a statue. As he walks up the stairs, he shouts to Natsu who walks straight to the balcony, "Do you know what this bitch just did? She said she's going to PL Group and telling them that you're a fake." Levy stands mutely, taking his jeers. As he reaches the top of the stairs, he yells, "She said when 91 days pass and you die from Sting's hands, she's going to send a freaking flower."

While Gajeel speaks, Natsu calmly bends down and washes his hands from a basin at the balcony. "Report Sting to the police," Levy says.

Gajeel, standing above the two, says, "You really like reporting us."

With a scoff, he yells, "The police are sure to help if we report a guy who has the police at his back. Are you saying that because you don't know Sting?" Levy stares at the edge of the balcony and the snow-covered town of Magnolia.

"Everything that he does isn't noticed by the heavens or the earth, which is why his nickname is Heaven Earth," Gajeel says, "Call the police? You're just asking to die!"

He glances over at Natsu saying, "Natsu was stabbed a week ago, and yesterday was beaten to a pulp. What else do you need to know for you to leave us alone, you psycho!?"

Natsu straightens and just as calmly walks over to a chair and sits down. Levy's eyes become watery as she tries not to cry and instead focuses on her breathing. She listens to Gajeel walking away and slamming the door shut to the rooftop room. She looks over at Natsu and walks toward him.

Standing a few feet from him, she asks, "Do you really want to live like this?" Natsu keeps his eyes on Magnolia's landscape as Levy continues, "Why is a man so scared of dying?" He is briefly reminded of Sting stabbing him that night as Natsu observes the wintry houses and stores of Magnolia town.

"If you're that scared, then what about my sister?" Levy asks, bitterly, "Your life is meaningless anyways, right? It doesn't matter if you die." Reminded of Levy's sister, Natsu comes out of his musing and takes a glimpse at Levy whose eyes begin to water even more. "What is the reason that you have to pull a con for you to live? Do you actually want to live?"

Unconsciously ripping out his old scars which had not even healed, Levy says, "You, who was abandoned when you were born. What, do you want to find your mother who left you for revenge?" Her spiteful words induce a painful flashback...

Natsu, as a young teenager, was handed a bundle of jewels by a student. Before leaving immediately, the student turned back and jerked his head toward a woman hiding behind a wall and staring at them. The lady backed away from the wall and out onto the streets. Wobbling on her high heels, she backed away to the opposite curb. Desperate to communicate with his mother who abandoned him, he tentatively tried to get closer and said, "Stay. If you're my mom, then stand there. If you know me-" The woman ran on the sidewalk and called, "Taxi! Taxi!" Natsu's face became streaked with tears as he yelled, Stop! Please, wait!" The lady rushed into the taxi, which then drove away. Her eyes were wet with tears as she watched Natsu in the rearview window, running onto the street trying to catch up, but he ran out of breath. The taxi disappeared in the midst of many cars as Natsu slowed down, screaming and crying, "I won't ask for us to live together! I just want to talk.." He clenched the bundle of jewels in his hand as he sobbed in the street. The flashback thus ends.

"After she abandoned me under a tree, she only came to see me once. That woman who gave me 60 jewels," Natsu finally utters, "Why would I have any feelings for that woman?" With a bitter chuckle, he says, "So do I want revenge on her? No, not really."

Unfazed by his sudden remark, Levy asks, "Then why? You have no reason to live. Why? All you're doing is just forcefully eating each meal like a pig just to keep living, but what's the point of it all?"

Natsu counters, "Do you have to have a grand reason to live? Even if I don't have a reason to live, I live because my eyes open in the morning. Because I can still breathe. If a person doesn't have a reason to live, does that mean he can't? If living like this is embarrassing, then I'm embarrassed right now," At the end of his sentence, his eyes become glazed with tears and his bruised lips slightly tremble.

"But you know, Levy, because I'm still alive, I want to continue living."

* * *

A/N: real dramatic. c: well this is our last chap before hiatus so thanks for yo reviews and stuff! we'll be back soon~ maybe my other story, What I'm Here For, will be updated during our hiatus cuz Jenny is not TOO busy, at least for now. baii and we love you!


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